More Videos
- 3D's Tipping Point and Your Living Room
- Silicon Valley and Hollywood Now Fast Friends
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- Apple Comes to AT&T's Rescue
- My Top 10 Tech Toys for the Holidays
- iPhone a Better Gaming Platform Than Android?
- Dell Has Some Explaining to Do
- Dell May Start to Show Some Promise
- Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates US Health Care System
- Oil Friday
- US Plans to Reduce Emissions By 17% Within Next Ten Years
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- For Many in US, It Will Be a Scaled-Down Holiday Season
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
RSS FEED
Tech Check
Text Size 
 |
Google [GOOG
Loading...
()
] shareholders are licking their wounds in after-market trading tonight after the company surprised Wall Street by missing expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
And when I say "surprised," I really mean "shocked." I've spoken to a two analysts since the numbers came out who can't talk publicly until they release their own research to clients, but they're stunned by the miss. Such is the price for a company that doesn't offer guidance. And investors are the ones stuck paying it.
Google reported $3.39 billion in revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs, or TAC, compared to Wall Street estimates in the category of $3.45 billion. Google also reported $4.43 in non-GAAP earnings per share, the apples-to-apples comparison to the Street consensus of $4.44.
The "miss" immediately took its toll on Google shares, sending them lower by almost 5 percent after the company spent much of the day erasing earlier losses and going positive by 4 percent just as the market closed.
Most shocking is the steep decline in paid clicks, one of the best metrics to measure Google's underlying advertiser strength. Yes, Google posted a 30 percent gain, year over year for the fourth quarter, but only a 9 percent sequential improvement from the company's third quarter. Bear Stearns, for one, anticipated a 10 percent increase; Piper Jaffray was at 14 percent; Citigroup was at 20 percent.
For comparison purposes, Google posted a 22 percent sequential paid click growth improvement from third to fourth quarter last year. The 9 percent move this year could suggest a marked slowdown in consumer interest ahead of holiday shopping; and does not bode well for those who might have thought Google was more insulated against an economic slowdown than others.
The company also hired another 900 workers on the quarter, bringing full-time employment to 16,805 employees, even as the company said tonight that "we expect to make significant capital expenditures."
Heavy spending, big-time hiring, and unable to meet Street expectations on the top and bottom line is a big problem especially for shorter term investors hoping for a shot of optimism from the company.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes