Even Valleywag now agrees- Google's earnings this quarter were a scam:

It's pretty sad that only three online blogs/newspapers have had the cojones to report on this, but the word is spreading nonetheless.  Besides Bloomberg yesterday, then FG, it seems Valleywag sniffed out the story today too. In a nutshell: Google would have missed even their lowered estimates if not for a last-minute collapse in the value of the US dollar.  Google literally had no growth in income last quarter. None. They had a decline- for the first time in the history of their company.

But Eric Schmidt and especially George Reyes (Google's Chief Financial Officer) managed to spin this quarter as the best in the company's history, and it resulted in the single largest one-day market cap increase of any company in the history of the Nasdaq or NYSE- over 29 billion dollars.  CNBC has mentioned the word "Google" roughly every 3 seconds today, saying it has single-handedly ended the recession, cured cancer, started world peace, and put a chicken in every pot. 

BTW- this is the last quarter that George Reyes will be at Google, he is leaving to "spend more time with his family" ..  I guess that doesn't include spending time with Gregory Reyes, his uncle who is now serving prison time for securities fraud after getting busted at Brocade for misleading Wall Street about earnings.  Hmm.. I'm sure there's no common theme in that family. Although I do predict George will be taking a flight to a country in Latin America with no extradition treaty to the USA in the very near future.

Comments

[Goooogly]

Not to even mention Google would have missed earnings if they counted their purchase of Doubleclick as a purchase - and that was on *lowered expectations* - is that even taking the lowered currency value into account? Either way, Google is a hype, a mania, that people can't seem to let go of (like cheering for your favorite sport team even when they win by less and less all the time then lose match after match for a while then win one game by one point in double OT but only a ref call - whoopee).

People want to believe in something and Google seems to be "it" for many of them. It doesn't make much sense - but it doesn't have to. Irrational exuberance.

[V. Jain]

Letssee, counting the revenues from acquisitions but not the costs of those acquisitions, excluding any losses as "one time events" but including one time gains from things like currency fluctuations, analysts acting intentionally stupid so their "estimates" can be easily beat... All the classic silicon valley stock scam techniques are back like 2000 never even happened. It's like the business press can't remember anything that happened more than two years ago.

Oh, and has nobody noticed that Google recently hired famed Wall Street scam artist Frank Quattrone as a consultant?

[CAWKMONKEY]

51% of revenue came from International sales. Google does not fix the $ value against currency's such as the Euro, which has been crushing the $: all it can do is take advantage of it. I'd get used to those huge profits and rises in share value, if I were you.

Man, some losers are so bitter they never got on the ride, and this site is the personification of that bitterness.

Anyway, lobstertails and Krug in the canteen today...WOOHOO!!!

[Trey Anastasio]

I agree with all Goog bulls. Big article on quote.yahoo.com talking about coke and CAT also benefiting from weak dollar. Goog positioned themselves accordingly, and it paid off big time. Wall Street likes it and will take Goog higher.

What's also benefiting Goog is they stayed with search as their hot button. Sure, they're spending cash on other attempts at "purple cow" products, but with bank who wouldn't. It's the USA way.

I think what Goog is doing to give advertisers better conversions at Goog's expense is the right move. I use Goog all the time to search (never clicked an ad though). I have a few small, niche biz clients (I'm a web programmer by trade) that swear by Goog's adwords program as the best online ROI.

Based on those three intuitive reasons I can't see any argument from Goog bears. However, from investing savvy point I wouldn't buy Goog at $500+ per share. I can't justify versus other products, i.e. commodities. Even the Goog options are too expensive to trade.

Trey

[Monkeys]

"Man, some losers are so bitter they never got on the ride, and this site is the personification of that bitterness."

What would you know about who's bitter? Google is nothing but an unquantifiable hype that people keep buying into...people who didn't aren't bitter...they're glad for not being fools..not getting caught up in the next Enron...check back in a few years and see who's laughing.

And Trey, someone should pay you to play contrarian. You're good at it. Some people seem to exist to point out what's wrong, then there's you: coming around to argue it isn't.

"What's also benefiting Goog is they stayed with search as their hot button." They stayed with search as their *only* button - they had no other way to make money this quarter, did they? Did you see any buttons for them to start pressing besides that one?

[Mauro]

Cojones, not cajones.

[david]

I make a lot of money from Google, I should like the company? No i dont,and here's why - most people who have run a successful business know that to offer employees one day a week to do what they like, feed them, give them benifits galore, does not create loyal staff or a better work enviroment, they either take the mickey and do no work or just look at the toys wondering if anyone would look at them negatively for basically doing no work and playing, being massaged , going for a swim or anything else which basically doesnt add to the company bottom line (why people are employed)

Google is a students idea of work paradise , guess what! that's something that just doesnt exist, its the medias darling and I, like many others just see a company spending its shareholders money like water, they have a lot of staff but what exactly do they do ? Google has to be Silcon Valleys WORST COMPANY for product launches, what can you honestly say has been a huge hit and pulled in revenue ? I cant think of anything & when you look at YOU TUBE it becomes plain, I have already worked out how to make a lot of money out of it, why cant google? I will tell you why, you cannot grow a company at their speed and honestly know what everyone is doing and control them to a set goal, they are out of control and time will show me right. I do respect Sergy & Brin for their achievement with maths but thats it ,they are a one trick pony and the valley should really look at everything else & ask can these people run a corporation, the answer is obvious. NO.

When the chef of the company leaves because he's a multi millionaire from stock options, ask yourself did his cooking really help google make a profit ?

Lastly, if you find the odd spelling mistake or something you don't like , tough i don't care, i have a life & i'm only here because i make money out of sad people like you who think this form of comms is important. eat one google .clever people can see through you .