Alphabet Earnings Need to Justify Its Stock’s $2 Trillion Rally

Alphabet Inc. is rapidly becoming seen as the leader in almost every major part of the artificial intelligence industry. Its earnings after the close Wednesday will help confirm whether that reputation is justified — and whether it’s enough to keep lifting shares.

It’s quite a turnaround for Google’s parent, which less than a year ago was thought to be falling behind in the AI race. Today it has a highly touted AI model, cutting-edge semiconductors, a fast growing cloud-computing business and a market position that’s so dominant that its new AI tool was enough to send video game stocks reeling. And that’s before you get to its nearly $300 billion a year digital advertising business.