Google Reports In Line Quarter: Is It Enough?
After reviewing Google’s 3rd quarter earnings report (3Q Earnings Release) it looks like pretty much an in line quarter.
Revenue after Traffic Acquisition Costs (TAC) was $3.01 billion – analysts were looking for $2.94 billion according to Yahoo!
Net Income, after adding back in options related expenses, came in at $3.91 a share – with analysts looking for $3.78 according to Yahoo!
Those numbers represent a beat of approximately 2% on the top line and 3% on the bottom line – which is why I see it as “pretty much” an in line quarter.
And so the question arises: Given Google’s phenomenal run over the past couple of months (GOOG 3 Month Chart), is it going to be enough?
Google is up about 33% over the last 2 months, it’s trading about 16% above its 50 day moving average and (as you can see from the 2nd indicator at the bottom of the chart) about $30 billion has flowed into Google over the last 2 months.
For any other company, this is a flat out phenomenal quarter. But this is Google. Expectations are always high and especially so this time.
UPDATE (Thu 10/18, 6:00pm PST): Google closed after hours trading up about $4 from its regular close – at $643.49, according to the Nasdaq.