After being weighed down in recent months by concerns about declining advertising prices, Google is soaring after better-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday.
Google’s stock crossed the $1,000 mark for the first time on Friday.
Google shares were trading up nearly 13%, or $115.26, to $1,004.06. Earlier in the day, they traded as high as $1,007.40.
Fueling investor fervor for the search giant: The company keeps minting money despite investors’ worries that its search advertising business will tumble as consumers spend more time on mobile devices, on which ads are cheaper and less effective than on desktop computers.
Google’s average ad prices or “cost per click” have fallen. But in the third quarter, Google sold a higher volume of ads.
Some analysts are recommending investors exercise caution.
BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said investors are behaving “like a frat boy on Friday night.”
Pivotal Research Group’s Brian Wieser is maintaining a “hold” rating on the stock and wrote in a research report: “We remain optimistic about Google’s continued success as the leading seller of display-based media and ad tech, and as the dominant provider of paid search advertising. However, this view is offset by concerns related to slowing spending on high margin self-service search, a shifting mix of ad revenue towards lower margin display-based formats and large brand customers, as well as the company’s new business initiatives in lower margin industries.”
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