Google parent Alphabet hits US$1 trillion market cap

Alphabet is the fourth US company to surpass the trillion-dollar threshold. Photo / AP

Google's parent company Alphabet has achieved a US$1 trillion market value, the fourth US company to hit the milestone.

The search-engine giant joins Apple, Amazon and Microsoft as the only firms to achieve such a feat.

Alphabet hit the US$1t mark just before markets closed on Thursday (US time), and ended the day at US$1,451.70 per share.

The Wall Street Journal reports Alphabet shares have surged since early December when the company announced Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were stepping down from managing the parent company.

Apple and Amazon both surpassed the trillion-dollar threshold in 2018, while Microsoft achieved the feat in April last year.

Apple is now approaching a US$1.4t market cap, while Microsoft is at US$1.27t and Amazon is at $931 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Facebook is the next likely trillion-dollar contender with a market capitalisation currently standing at US$633 billion.