Google Faces €4.1B EU Fine; Chip Stocks Extend Selloff

The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed Google's ($GOOGL) appeal against a €4.1 billion ($4.71 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the European Commission eight years ago. The Commission had originally handed out a $4.95 billion fine for agreements that forced phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search, Chrome browser, and Google Play on Android devices while preventing use of rival Android systems. A Google spokesperson said the judgment failed to account for efforts to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free. $GOOGL has accumulated close to $12.6 billion in EU fines over the past decade for various antitrust infringements, and the ruling is likely to boost Europe's broader crackdown on Big Tech.

Semiconductor stocks extended their selloff into premarket trading as lofty valuations and heavy AI spending by tech companies weighed on investor sentiment. A report concerning Meta's ($META) cloud strategy sparked concerns about new competition in AI compute infrastructure, hitting AI infrastructure stocks. Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) attracted attention for meeting technical momentum criteria with accelerating earnings and revenue growth. Meanwhile, SanDisk ($SNDK) has gained 762.52% year to date, significantly outpacing the S&P 500's 9.54% gain in the same period, as the third-largest enterprise SSD manufacturer benefits from strong NAND memory demand.

Appian ($APPN) rose 14.1% following Guggenheim's upgrade of large software peers including Salesforce ($CRM) and ServiceNow ($NOW), which prompted a broad reassessment of software valuations. $APPN and Deloitte expanded their alliance to deliver AI-powered modernization for UK policing by unifying fragmented legacy systems. Guggenheim also upgraded $NOW, reflecting positive momentum in the enterprise software sector. The business services industry has returned 18.4% over the past six months, outpacing the S&P 500's 9.3% gain in the same period, as enterprises increasingly outsource non-core functions.

Microsoft ($MSFT) plans fresh job cuts that could affect fewer than 2.5% of employees, according to reports. $META shares gained ground on developments related to its cloud infrastructure strategy. In a separate development, a Hollywood director was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for taking $11 million from Netflix ($NFLX) for a science fiction series but instead moving the money into crypto markets. Last month, President Donald Trump indicated he was weighing options to give Americans an ownership stake in leading AI firms, and OpenAI is now considering giving a 5% stake to the government amid an IPO race with Anthropic.

AppLovin ($APP) jumped 10.7% after Raymond James initiated coverage with a Strong Buy rating, continuing positive momentum in mobile app technology. Palantir ($PLTR) drew analyst attention with one Wall Street analyst calling the AI battleground stock undervalued. Quantum computing leader IonQ ($IONQ) remains down 40% from its all-time high as investors assess opportunities in the sector. Dell ($DELL) was highlighted among business services providers, while Marvell ($MRVL) appeared in analysis of cash-producing stocks with competitive advantages.