It’s hard to make the case that Google is struggling. The stock currently sits at $695 a share, which makes the company worth more than $200 billion. On the other hand, it was worth $760 a share this morning. So what happened, precisely?
Google essentially chose the wrong copy shop, releasing their results early.
“Earlier this morning RR Donnelley, the financial printer, informed us that they had filed our draft 8K earnings statement without authorization,” a Google spokesperson told CNET in an e-mail. “We have ceased trading on NASDAQ while we work to finalize the document. Once it’s finalized we will release our earnings, resume trading on NASDAQ, and hold our earnings call as normal at 1:30 Pacific Time.”
To be fair, the results were not what Wall Street was expecting, either. Analysts were expecting $11.86 billion and instead Google made $11.5 billion, and earnings of $9.03 a share instead of $10.65. You’d think Google would get a mulligan on this one, but apparently not. Also, what people pay for Google’s ads is down 15%, which is actually troubling since that’s where the majority of Google’s revenue comes from.
It’s unlikely this situation will last very long. Google has been cleaning up Motorola Mobility, and it’s hard to argue with a company that has so many popular products. Also, it still costs an iPad for one share of stock, just a slightly less nice iPad. We’re pretty sure Page and Brin won’t be sleeping fitfully tonight.