Google posts strong Q1 profits
Internet search engine giant Google had an excellent first quarter of 2010, posting a net gain of nearly $2 billion which equated to a rise of $6.06 per share. This was a marked improvement over the same quarter last year, and their performance was significantly better than the best guesses of the market analysts. Google execs cite an improving overall economy as the reason for the sudden uptick in company profits.
Any time a big company like Google does well, it stands to reason that they will need to keep hiring as they grow, and they did indeed add some 800 new workers. The only problem with that is that we don’t know how many of those people actually reside here in the United States. This is why the appearance of a healthy stock market is an illusion that doesn’t reflect the true state of the economy. A company’s stock can and does rise upon news of a plant closing in the United States as it is moved to Mexico, India or South Korea.
That having been said, Google’s stock is actually down by 5% in 2010 in spite of the 10% rise in the Nasdaq exchange as a whole, much of that due to the acrimony between the company and the Chinese government over censorship demands.
To get a more detailed look at Google’s first quarter earning report, click the link below.