GOOGL Alphabet Inc

By Corrie Driebusch 

In a matter of hours, Google parent Alphabet Inc. added roughly $82 billion in market value -- an amount higher than the values of all but 68 other companies in the S&P 500.

Alphabet's shares rose 10% in recent trading, on track for its best one-day performance ever, lifted by a jump in revenue in the latest quarter. It is an unusual -- if not unprecedented -- stock move for one of the world's largest companies.

Alphabet's rise catapulted its market capitalization to nearly $870 billion, according to FactSet, meaning the search giant added roughly the value of a Goldman Sachs (market cap: $81 billion) in just a day.

Still, the massive gain didn't move Google up the list of biggest companies -- it remained fourth in the S&P 500, behind Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

Before Alphabet reported its results late Thursday, its stock was one of the biggest laggards compared with its technology peers. Through Thursday, Alphabet was up 8.7% in 2019, compared with Apple and Facebook Inc.'s 32% and 53% gains, respectively, in the same period.

Tech companies were under some pressure earlier this year as investors fretted about regulatory scrutiny to the sector. Still, so far this year, they have been the best performers in the S&P 500 as investors seek growth. The tech sector has risen 33% since the end of 2018, outpacing the broader index's 21% rise in the same period.

Tech companies' earnings have largely been a boon for their stocks. Facebook and Microsoft both have reported solid results for the latest quarter; Amazon ended its streak of record quarterly profits, sending its shares down slightly Friday.

Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 26, 2019 14:41 ET (18:41 GMT)

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