Google's revenue misses forecasts, profit up

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 22 January 2010, 15:21 IST   |    1 Comments
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Google's revenue misses forecasts, profit up
San Francisco: Google's revenue growth was not as strong as some investors had hoped, sending its shares down four percent, however it posted a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit. Net income of Google was at $1.97 billion, or $6.13 a share, in the three months ended December 31, compared with $382.4 million, or $1.21 a share, in the year-earlier period when the company took charges for its investments in AOL and Clearwire Corp. Total revenue at Google rose 17 percent to $6.67 billion. Revenue from outside the U.S. was 53 percent of the total. Analysts pointed to signs that Google's increased spending as a possible cause for concern, but said that overall the company continued to dominate the Internet search market and delivered a strong quarterly report that fell short of only Wall Street's most bullish forecasts. Google's problems in China have been an overhang on the stock, which is down about 12 percent since hitting a 52-week high in early January. The company said last week that it might have to close its China operations after a cyber attack and its decision to stop censoring search results. Google does not disclose the size of its business in China, where it lags home-grown search powerhouse Baidu, but analysts peg Google's annual China revenue at between $200 million and $600 million. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said that the China business is unchanged but the company expects to make changes in a "reasonably short time from now."

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