Google Tops $3T Market Cap as Gemini Takes Top Spot in Apple Store (www.investors.com)

Google parent Alphabet jumped to a record market cap above $3 trillion after its Gemini app surged to the No. 1 free spot in the U.S. Apple App Store, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity. The stock climbed more than 4.5% to close at $251.61 (intraday high $252.41), pushing year-to-date gains to about 33% in 2025. Analysts point to the recent launch of Gemini’s Nano Banana image-editing model as a key driver of downloads and user engagement, and KeyBanc’s Justin Patterson says sustained App Store dominance could shift investor perception of Gemini from an experimental add-on to a core product that complements Google’s search business. For the AI/ML community, this is notable both for product strategy and market dynamics: strong consumer traction for multimodal features (image editing in this case) validates investment in multimodal models and reinforces competition with standalone chat-first rivals. If Gemini solidifies its position without cannibalizing search, it could accelerate integration of advanced generative features across Google’s search and advertising stack—potentially boosting monetization. The rally also follows favorable antitrust developments (no asset divestitures required in one case) though a separate digital-advertising trial resumes Sept. 22. Technical market indicators are bullish too: IBD gives Google a Composite Rating of 98 and an Accumulation/Distribution grade of A-.