This was published 11 years ago
'PENDING LARRY QUOTE': Google stocks plunge after erroneous early announcement of profit drop
Shares in Google plunged overnight after the company accidentally revealed its profits were down through a draft press release which said "PENDING LARRY QUOTE", in place of comments from chief executive Larry Page.
Net profit was reported at $US2.18 billion, compared to $US2.73 billion in the same period a year ago.
The results were made public in a regulatory filing hours ahead of their scheduled release, which Google called a "draft" released by a printer "without authorisation".
The final version came a few hours later, with the same numbers but with a comment from chief executive Larry Page in place of a line on the draft which said, "PENDING LARRY QUOTE".
Larry Page ... the stock has plummeted, but he insists Google had a strong quarter.Credit: Reuters
"We had a strong quarter," Page said in the statement.
"Revenue was up 45 per cent year-on-year, and, at just 14 years old, we cleared our first $US14 billion revenue quarter. I am also really excited about the progress we're making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices."
Revenue including sales from its newly acquired Motorola Mobility unit amounted to $US14.1 billion. Google's own ad and other revenue rose 19 per cent from a year ago to $US11.53 billion.
Google's earnings per share adjusted for special items amounted to $US9.03, far below Wall Street expectations of $US10.65 per share.
Whoops ... Google's erroneous early release of the news included the phrase "Pending Larry Quote", seen here top left.
Google stock slid 9.0 per cent after the news to $US687.30 before trade was halted, taking the company's market value back down below that of Microsoft, which it overtook earlier this month.
Analysts were largely unfazed by the weak results.
Independent tech analyst Jeff Kagan called the soft results "just a hiccup in Google's climb" and said the firm was still "on the growth side of the wave".
Anthony DiClemente at Barclays argued that "the sell-off presents a buying opportunity as we think the Street was overly optimistic going into the quarter and did not fully discount the potential Motorola drag on the business".
At just 14 years old, we cleared our first $US14 billion revenue quarter. I am also really excited about the progress we're making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices
Google in May completed a $US12.9 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices that put the internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple.
Google acquired 17,000 patents with the purchase of Motorola Mobility and has been strengthening its patent portfolio in the fight for dominance in the booming smartphone and tablet market.
Motorola Mobility was created in 2011 when US-based Motorola Inc. split the company into two separate entities: a mobile devices unit, and a government and public safety division known as Motorola Solutions.
Google remains dominant in its core area of online advertising with a 74.5 per cent share of the US search ad market, according to data from eMarketer.
Google's ad revenue alone is expected to account for 41.3 per cent of total US digital ad revenues in 2012, eMarketer projects.
AFP