Alphabet slips, says DOJ antitrust case is 'without merit'
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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) said on Wednesday that the antitrust lawsuit brought upon it by the U.S. Department of Justice and eight U.S. states is "without merit."
In a statement provided to Reuters, the tech giant said that it will "defend itself vigorously."

Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) added that the U.S. government âwas "doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow."
MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni said there is not likely to be any "medium-term fundamental issues due to these regulatory headwinds," but it could keep Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) stock "range-bound" for 2023.
On Tuesday, the DOJ and the U.S. states, including Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) home state of California, cited violations of the Sherman Act and called for a breakup of the ad-tech business, which would mark the biggest corporate breakup in decades.
Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) shares slipped in premarket trading on Wednesday, due in part to weak cloud guidance from competitor Microsoft (MSFT).
Last week, Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) announced that it would reduce its employee headcount by 12,000.