Google Reports Disappointing Revenue, Shares Fall--2nd Update

By Tess Stynes 

Google Inc. reported disappointing revenue growth in the holiday quarter amid further indications of slowing growth in its maturing search-advertising business.

Shares of Google, which have declined 7% over the past three months, fell 1% in recent after-hours trading.

Fear of slowing revenue growth in Google's core search advertising business has been a key reason why the company's shares have fallen in recent months. Google has two faster-growing businesses in YouTube and the Google Play Store, but those units remain small compared with search.

The amount Google receives per ad click is decreasing as the number of clicks increases, in part because a bigger portion of total clicks is coming from smartphones, deemed less valuable by advertisers.

In the fourth quarter, clicks on advertiser links next to Google's search results increased 14% from a year earlier, but the amount Google got paid per click fell 3% from a year earlier.

For the latest period, Google's revenue rose to $18.1 billion from $15.7 billion, but fell below the $18.46 billion recently expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The company noted that "strong currency headwinds" weighed on the quarter, echoing other multinational companies.

Overall, Google reported a profit of $4.76 billion, or $6.91 a share, up from $3.38 billion, or $4.95 a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation, discontinued operations and other items, per-share earnings rose to $6.88 from $6.70.

Analysts had expected earnings of $7.11 a share.

Google has been spending heavily as it invests in new businesses to maintain growth. During the latest period, operating expenses other than the cost of revenue were $6.78 billion in the latest quarter, or 37% of revenue, up from $5.03 billion, or 32% of revenues, in the year-ago quarter.

The company's research-and-development expenses rose 46% to $2.81 billion.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

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