Trading on Google Stock Halted After Big Earnings Miss

Published Fri, Oct 19th, 2012   Wall Street Daily Research

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) shares took a massive hit yesterday after the company accidentally released third-quarter earnings during the trading day.

The stock nosedived 9% in just eight minutes after the company reported net revenue of $11.3 billion, compared to Wall Street’s estimate of $11.9 billion. And earnings per share of $9.03 fell way short of the $10.65 analysts projected.

A dip in advertising sales is the main culprit. According to The New York Times, “The company reported that the price advertisers paid per click on an ad – referred to as cost per click – decreased 15% from the same period last year. This was the fourth consecutive quarter that number has declined.”

CEO, Larry Page, expressed hopes that the company will be able to better monetize the shift to mobile devices soon, however. As Page says, with 55% of the marketshare for mobile ad sales, the company is “uniquely positioned to get through that transition and to profit from it.”

Google wasn’t the only tech company to disappoint on earnings yesterday, though…