Alphabet, the parent company of Google, experienced a 1% drop in premarket trading after a European court upheld a substantial fine of 4.1 billion euros ($4.67 billion) related to antitrust violations. This fine stems from a 2018 decision by the European Commission, which accused Google of engaging in anticompetitive practices by favoring its own applications on Android devices.
In contrast, shares of Bending Spoons fell 7% following a strong debut where the stock initially surged nearly 40% from its IPO price. AeroVironment saw a 4% increase after securing a $500 million contract with the U.S. Army to develop counter-drone technology. Palantir's shares rose over 3% after D.A.
Davidson upgraded the stock from neutral to buy, citing its attractive valuation; the stock is on track to finish the week up more than 15%. Additionally, stocks related to cryptocurrency, including Strategy and Coinbase, gained as Bitcoin prices surpassed $61,000, contributing to a two-day rally of 4.5%.
Robinhood also benefited from this crypto surge, alongside an analyst upgrade from Mizuho, which raised its price target to $130, suggesting the company could dominate the online brokerage space globally. Conversely, memory stocks like Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate Technology continued to decline as investors took profits, with Sandisk down 3.5% after a more than 10% drop the previous day