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Earnings report

Google's profits continue to soar

The search engine's management warns that the wild growth may be tapering off.

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc.'s second-quarter profit quadrupled as the online search leader continued to exceed the great expectations underlying its soaring stock, but its outlandish revenue growth appeared to be tapering off - a trend management warned could continue through the summer, rattling investors.

The Mountain View, Calif., company said Thursday it earned $342.8-million, or $1.19 per share, for the three months ended in June.

If not for a charge to account for employee stock options issued before Google went public 11 months ago, the earnings would have ranged between $1.29 and $1.35 per share, topping the mean estimate of $1.21 per share among analysts.

Revenue for the period nearly doubled from last year. Excluding fees paid to other Web sites for displaying its ads, the revenue beat the Wall Street estimate.

The company released its results after the stock market closed Thursday. Reflecting investor anticipation of a big quarter, Google's shares reached a record $317.80 before retreating slightly to finish at $313.94, up $1.94 for the day, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

But then the shares plunged $20.79, or 6.6 percent, in extended trading as investors apparently fretted about a slowdown in the company's growth.

In a Thursday conference call with analysts, Google chief financial officer George Reyes told analysts he expected it to be even more difficult for the company to maintain its growth pace in the third quarter.

Google is under immense pressure to produce extraordinary earnings growth because of how high its stock has climbed since the company's initial public offering at $85 per share. Although Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have stressed they aren't interested in meeting short-term expectations, the company has surpassed analysts' estimates in each quarter since the IPO.

The stellar showing has propelled Google's market value to nearly $90-billion in less than seven years in business.

The Clearwater car finance company reported a 47 percent increase in net income on a 26 percent revenue gain for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30. Nicholas said it opened its 36th branch during the first quarter, in Indianapolis, and that it expects to open branches in Conyers, Ga.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Baltimore during this quarter.

Operating income rose 16 percent on an 8 percent increase in revenues for the St. Petersburg company, which processes check and credit card transactions and provides risk management services to retailers. Certegy is getting out of the merchant acquiring business and the quarter's results include a gain of $27.3-million on the sale of most of that business and a $6.8-million write-down of the company's remaining portfolio.

The world's largest beveragemaker reported a 9 percent jump in profit on solid gains in revenue, handily beating Wall Street expectations.

The world's largest hamburger chain reported a 10 percent drop in earnings because of taxes from repatriating international profits, but the Oak Brook, Ill., company extended its momentum with a modest gain in operating income.

The nation's largest candymaker said profit fell from results a year ago when it recorded a tax benefit, and the company unveiled a restructuring plan that will cut an undisclosed number of jobs and close a plant in Puerto Rico to save up to $50-million annually.

The Delray Beach office products retailer said profit climbed 26 percent as cost controls helped the company surpass Wall Street estimates.

The world's largest shipping carrier reported a more than 20 percent jump in profit on strong growth in revenue.

The world's biggest softwaremaker said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit increased 37 percent, citing strong sales across all its divisions, from servers to its Xbox console and video games.

[Last modified July 22, 2005, 00:32:15]