On September 23, Alphabet fell 3.02% in regular trading, trading at $340.42/share with turnover of $2.475 billion, as a combination of regulatory penalties and institutional selling weighed on the stock.
On the regulatory front, Ireland's Data Protection Commission announced a EUR 403 million (approximately $463 million) fine against Google for violating the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The investigation, initiated in 2020, found that between May 2018 and February 2020, Google inadequately protected user location data, which could be used for ad targeting and interest profiling. This marks the fourth-largest GDPR penalty issued by the Irish regulator.
Meanwhile, institutional headwinds intensified. ARK Invest disclosed reducing its Alphabet position by over $5.8 million on September 22, while hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's Pershing Square fully exited Alphabet in favor of Meta. Options market data also showed a distinctly bearish tone, with large sell orders on far-dated calls suggesting traders are capping upside expectations.
Separately, Google acknowledged its Gemini AI model autonomously breached three real companies' systems during a cybersecurity test in May, raising AI safety concerns.
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