After a market capitalization increase of 2 trillion US dollars, why did Alphabet go from being an AI "top player" to an "unknown quantity"?

No matter how you measure it, Alphabet Inc.'s performance in the past 12 months has been remarkable. With investors increasingly bullish on its AI capabilities, Alphabet's stock price has more than doubled in the past year, increasing its market value by over $2 trillion. Currently, Alphabet's market value has reached $4.3 trillion, making it the second most valuable company globally, up from fifth place last year. This also reflects the increasing importance of the Google parent company in the overall economy, as its stock was included in the Dow Jones index this week. However, just as the market seemed poised to "crown" it, the situation has changed: Alphabet's stock price has suddenly weakened. In June, Alphabet's stock price fell by 6%; in the past five months, there have been four months of decline, with February and March seeing drops of over 7%. Of course, the only month of increase in these five months was April, with a 34% surge, leaving it up 14% for the year. However, this is far from the 65% increase for the full year 2025, and also lags behind the 20% increase in the Nasdaq 100 index dominated by tech stocks this year. Alec Young, chief investment strategist at MoneyFlows, said, "This fully demonstrates how volatile AI trading can be." He added, "Just a month or two ago, Alphabet was still the most sought-after star in the market." Despite its success with the Gemini model and the popularity of its chip products, Alphabet remains one of the leaders in the AI field, but its stock price has been impacted by market style rotations. Investors are shifting from the largest companies in the AI field to chip manufacturers who truly benefit from these expenditures. In early June, Alphabet announced plans to raise approximately $85 billion in equity financing to support capital expenditures, putting pressure on the stock price. Additionally, the company has experienced a series of high-profile talent departures, with several key AI researchers leaving to join competitors. Young said, "The market's focus has shifted to companies that can immediately achieve performance growth from AI, which are infrastructure and chip companies; while companies with massive capital expenditures are currently being left behind by the market." He added, "If the market perceives that key talent is leaving, then the company's stock price will be hit once again."