Alphabet posted its second-quarter earnings after Wednesday's closing bell, beating on the headline numbers and giving a higher forecast for this year's capital expenditures. But some analysts say the debate over the future of Google's search empire is still unsettled.

Most leaders in the tech industry owe their wealth to founding equity stakes in their platforms, which Google’s Sundar Pichai does not have.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is hanging near its records on Thursday, though the calm surface of the U.S. stock market is hiding some roiling moves underneath. Alphabet is rising, and Tesla is tumbling following a jumble of profit reports from big U.S. companies.

Alphabet stock trades nearly flat year-to-date in 2025. A strong Q2 report could see shares trade higher and closer to all-time highs.

Alphabet was targeted with an EU antitrust complaint from six human and digital rights groups on Thursday which urged EU regulators to investigate whether the tech giant complies with legislation requiring it to make it easier for users to uninstall software apps.