Google’s first-quarter profit soars past forecasts

updated 3:22 p.m. ET April 21, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - Shares of Google Inc. surged Friday after the company’s first-quarter results proved the search-engine leader still has the golden touch.

Defying recent skepticism that tarnished its stock, the Internet’s search king dazzled investors late Thursday by reporting first-quarter earnings that obliterated analyst estimates.

The results appeared to validate recent research showing Google has widened its lead over its fiercest rivals to grab a bigger piece of the Internet’s increasingly lucrative advertising market.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it earned $592.3 million, or $1.95 per share, during the first three months of the year. That compared with net income of $369.2 million, or $1.29 per share, at the same time last year.

Quarterly revenue surpassed $2 billion for the first time in Google’s 7½ year history, reaching $2.25 billion — a 79 percent increase from $1.26 billion last year.

After subtracting the commissions that company pays to thousands of advertising partners, Google’s revenue totaled $1.53 billion.

Google’s profit increase would have been even larger if not for new accounting rules that require companies to deduct the costs of their employee stock options. That requirement, imposed over the high-tech industry’s loud objections, wasn’t in effect last year.

If not for the stock option expenses and a charge for a recently announced legal settlement, Google would have earned $2.29 per share, well above the average estimate of $1.97 per share among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Google’s revenue, excluding ad commissions, exceeded the average analyst estimate by $90 million.

“We are obviously very happy with our first-quarter results,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said during a conference call with analysts. “We basically have good news across the business.”

A lower than expected tax rate increased Google’s first-quarter earnings by about 8 cents per share, estimated American Technology Research analyst Rob Sanderson. Google’s effective tax rate was 27 percent in the quarter, below the 30 percent rate the company anticipates paying for the year.

“It was still a solid quarter,” Sanderson said. “There shouldn’t be any doubt about this company’s ability to make money.”

Google is profiting as advertisers shift more of their spending to the Internet. Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine recently estimated Internet advertising this year will total $14.5 billion, surpassing magazine advertising for the first time.

The strong showing provides another lift for Google’s stock, which has surged by more than 20 percent since its addition to the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was announced a month ago.

The inclusion to the widely watched market barometer reversed the negative sentiment that had been swirling around Google after the company missed analyst earnings estimates in its previous quarter.

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