12:23 PM EDT, 09/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google ( GOOG ) is facing a near-term headline risk as its second antitrust trial this year is set to commence on Sept. 9, Wedbush Securities said in a Thursday note.

The US Department of Justice's complaint against the company is primarily focused on its advertising tech offerings. According to Wedbush, the DOJ claims that Alphabet's Google ( GOOG ) violated certain antitrust laws for its unlawful monopoly of the publisher ad server market, the ad exchange market, and the advertiser ad network market.

The complaint from DOJ also proposes the company's divestiture of its Google Ad Manager Suite, Wedbush added. While the trial presents a near-term headline risk, Wedbush said overall risk to the business is "limited" based on Alphabet's recent financial disclosures.

August disclosures from Alphabet showed that its ad tech portfolio accounted for 11% of the group's consolidated gross revenue and about 2.6% of its operating profit in 2020, Wedbush said.

The investment firm noted that Google Ad Manager accounted for only 4.1% of revenue and 1.5% of operating profit in 2020, and is estimated to account for less than 1% of operating income this year.

In a lawsuit filed late last month, Yelp (YELP) accused Alphabet's Google ( GOOG ) of exploiting its leading position in the search engine market to gain an edge over niche search companies by favoring its own services through self-promotion and controlling access.

Wedbush Securities has an outperform rating on Alphabet, with a $205 price target.

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