Google Profit Tops Estimates on Ad Sales; Shares Rise

Google Profit Tops Estimates on Ad Sales; Shares Rise

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the most popular Internet search engine, said third-quarter profit climbed 26 percent as more customers used Web search ads to spur sales in a slowing economy, sending the shares higher.

Net income rose to $1.35 billion, or $4.24 a share, from $1.07 billion, or $3.38, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Leaving out costs such as stock-based compensation, profit was $4.92 a share, beating the $4.75 average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Advertisers are shifting budgets away from TV and print media toward ads that run alongside search listings, targeting online shoppers. The Internet will account for 8.7 percent of the $284 billion in U.S. ad spending this year, up from 7.2 percent in 2007, according to Barclays Capital.

``Google's going to continue to grow at a pace that's faster than everyone else,'' said Steve Weinstein, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. He expects the shares to outperform the market. ``They have a very profitable and still very rapidly growing core franchise in search.''

Excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, sales expanded to $4.04 billion, compared with the $4.05 billion average estimate. Total revenue climbed 31 percent to $5.54 billion.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, rose $32.87, or 9.3 percent, to $385.89 in extended trading after closing at $353.02 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have dropped 49 percent this year.

Being `Realistic'

``We are realistic about the poor state of the global economy, but it's Google, so we'll manage accordingly,'' Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said today in an interview. ``We had a good third quarter, with strong traffic and revenue growth.''

In the U.S., Google fielded 63 percent of online searches in August, double the market share of Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. combined. That dominance has helped Google command higher prices for ads, according to Yahoo, which is awaiting government approval of an agreement to let Google sell some ads on its sites.

``Search is already the biggest percentage of online advertising, and it is still gaining,'' said Clay Moran, an analyst at Stanford Group Co. in Boca Raton, Florida.

Google, which doesn't forecast results, detected a slowdown in spending from some types of customers, such as U.S. auto and home financing companies, Hal Varian, the company's chief economist, said in July.

Stock Compensation

Google recorded $280 million in costs for stock-based pay, up from $273 million the previous quarter. Those costs will reach $1.1 billion in 2008, leaving out stock awards granted after Oct. 1, Google said.

Sales outside the U.S. made up 51 percent of Google's revenue, up from 48 percent a year earlier. If foreign exchange rates for currency had remained constant over that period, Google's third-quarter sales this year would have been $168 million lower, the company said.

The credit crisis may cost the Internet ad market $6.7 billion in lost sales through 2010, according to Collins Stewart Plc. Big and small businesses, from General Motors Corp. to Simplexity LLC, are reducing ad spending plans, while some financial companies, such as Wachovia Corp., have disappeared.

Slower Growth?

The reductions will push down growth in U.S. Internet ad outlays to less than 20 percent next year for the first time since 2002, said Sandeep Aggarwal, a Collins Stewart analyst in San Francisco.

Google, which gets almost all its revenue from search ads, is testing ways to advertise with images and video. The company struck a deal this month to offer full-length shows from CBS Corp., splitting revenue from the ads.

``They're spending a lot of money to invest in other areas outside search,'' said Moran, who advises buying the shares. ``They're going to need something to come in behind search and begin to reaccelerate the growth.''

Microsoft, seeking to close the gap with Google, bid as much as $47.5 billion for Yahoo this year. Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo rejected Microsoft's offer in May, opting instead to strike the advertising partnership with Google.

BLOOMBERG