Google Inc's already soaring stock price rocketed even higher on Thursday after reporting strong growth in its first quarter as a public company, prompting skeptics again to caution against Googlemania getting out of control.
Google, the Internet search engine provider, reported that its profit and revenue more than doubled in the first quarter after its initial public offering. The results led its shares, which had closed up US$8.89, or 6.33 percent at US$149.38, to continue skyward, jumping another 8.25 percent, to US$161.70, in after-hours trading. The price was nearly double the initial offering of US$85 a share in mid-August.
Google reported third-quarter net income of US$52 million, or US$0.19 a share, compared with US$20.4 million, or US$0.08 a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased 105 percent, to US$805.9 million, from US$393.9 million.
Without a series of one-time charges -- like the inclusion of a noncash charge of US$201 million related to a patent dispute with Yahoo -- the company said it would have had earnings of US$0.70 a share. On that basis, analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had expected US$0.56 a share.
Its earnings followed a similar announcement by its close rival Yahoo, which on Oct. 13 reported that it had tripled its profit from the previous year. Strong reports from the two companies, as well as the strength of reports by other shopping sites like Amazon and Ebay, suggested a continuing shift in commerce toward the more focused online commerce and away from traditional advertising and commerce.
But several analysts suggested that the market reaction was not justified by the company's growth.
"Investors who pay up for Google here have to share their optimism for at least another five years, a tough pill to swallow in any market," said Andy Kessler, an independent financial analyst based in Silicon Valley.
Other analysts said that Google had outperformed expectations and that they thought that it was increasing its share of revenue and its share of the search market relative to the rest of the online industry.
"It was a strong quarter for everyone, but Google's results were actually much stronger," said James Friedland, a financial analyst at SG Cowen, an investment firm.
In an hour-long conference call with financial analysts, the idiosyncratic Google also made an effort to reaffirm that it will not be a typical company in reporting results and in offering guidance to the analysts.
"We told potential investors from the start that Google is a very unusual company in many ways," the chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said. Google is based in Mountain View, California.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
RSS