KLAR Stock On Track To Hit February Highs – What Is The Google Connection?

Klarna said a Swedish court awarded PriceRunner about $1.97 billion in damages over Google's preferential treatment of its own comparison-shopping service.

• Klarna acquired PriceRunner in 2022, one of the leading comparison shopping services in the Nordic region with operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and the U.K.
• The lawsuit, originally filed by PriceRunner before the acquisition, alleged that Google abused its dominant market position by favoring its own comparison shopping service in search results.
• Klarna said PriceRunner now powers its Search & Compare feature across 13 markets, with a database covering more than 100 million products and 500 million merchant listings.

Klarna Group (KLAR) shares were up nearly 9% in Wednesday’s pre-market trade after the company announced a win against Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google in an antitrust case.

Klarna said that a Swedish court ruled in favor of PriceRunner, awarding about $1.97 billion in damages for lost revenue stemming from Google's preferential treatment of its own comparison-shopping service over rival price-comparison platforms.

Klarna acquired PriceRunner in 2022, one of the leading comparison shopping services in the Nordic region with operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and the U.K.

Klarna shares were on track to hit a high previously observed in February this year, while Alphabet’s Class A shares were down nearly 0.2% in Wednesday’s pre-market trade. KLAR was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing.

Why Did KLAR Win Against GOOGL?

Klarna acquired PriceRunner to strengthen its product discovery and comparison shopping capabilities.

The lawsuit, originally filed by PriceRunner before the acquisition, alleged that Google abused its dominant market position by favoring its own comparison shopping service in search results, harming competing platforms and reducing consumer choice.

Klarna said PriceRunner now powers its Search & Compare feature across 13 markets, with a database covering more than 100 million products and 500 million merchant listings.

The company also uses the platform to power its recently launched Shopping Search experience in ChatGPT, making it a key component of its broader AI-driven commerce strategy.

Klarna noted that the ruling remains subject to appeal and that any eventual recovery could be reduced by revenue-sharing agreements with former PriceRunner shareholders, litigation funding arrangements and applicable taxes.

KLAR’s PriceRunner Initially Sued GOOGL For $2.4B

Klarna-owned PriceRunner initially sued Google for $2.4 billion in 2022, alleging that the latter manipulated search results to favor its own competing shopping service.

PriceRunner sought compensation for damages based on a 2017 European Commission ruling that found Google abused its monopolistic position in search to favor Google Shopping.

While suing Google in 2022, PriceRunner stated that the company had not complied with the European Commission’s ruling and had continued to abuse its dominant position in search.

Citizens Flags Competitive Pressures In KLAR’s Core Offering

According to TheFly, analysts at Citizens initiated coverage of Klarna with a ‘Market Perform’ rating on Tuesday without assigning a price target.

The firm said Klarna is the largest buy now, pay later provider by gross merchandise volume but faces intense competition in its core Pay-in-X business due to relatively low barriers to entry.

Citizens also noted that consensus estimates assume the company can continue scaling despite its annualized gross merchandise volume already reaching about $135 billion, which is roughly three times the size of Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM).

What Retail Investors Think Of KLAR Stock

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Klarna trended in ‘bullish’ territory, with message volumes at ‘extremely high’ levels at the time of writing.

KLAR stock is down 30% year-to-date, while GOOGL stock is up 14%. The JPMorgan Active Value ETF (JAVA) is up 21% over the last 12 months, while the ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) is down 21%.

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