Google share price rises as chief financial officer Ruth Porat enjoys better than expected earnings
The figures
Google beat earnings expectations in its latest financial results with earnings of $6.99 (£4.48) a share, but overall revenue of $17.73bn came in below analysts' forecasts.
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Excluding the cost to acquire traffic, Google's revenue in the second quarter rose 13 per cent to $14.35bn thanks to the strength of the company's core search business triggering a nine per cent rise in the company's share price in after-hours trading.
Overall profits rose to $3.9bn with earnings of $6.99 per share – beating expectations of $6.17 per share.
Paid clicks, a key metric for Google, rose seven per cent however that was offset by a four per cent fall in the aggregate cost-per-click.
Why it's interesting
This is the first time Google's new chief financial officer Ruth Porat has addressed investors. The former Morgan Stanley vice president was expected to regain investor confidence by curbing spending on some of Google's more speculative and expensive projects such as Google Glass.
She has delivered on both fronts: Google's share price rocketed in after-hours trading after announcing that it had added only 1,729 new employees int he second quarter – it's lowest growth for two years.
What Google said
Our strong Q2 results reflect continued growth across the breadth of our products, most notably core search, where mobile stood out, as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising.
We are focused every day on developing big new opportunities across a wide range of businesses. We will do so with great care regarding resource allocation.
– Ruth Porat.
In short
A strong start for Google's new disciplinarian chief financial officer, with earnings beating expectations and advertising revenue proving it is still reliable as a growing source of income.