Oh, you're good, Google
You saw analysts crush their own profit targets over the past few months, and you kept a straight face. Since you don't provide guidance, there's never a need for the occasional "you're getting colder" nudge when the pros go astray.
And boy, did analysts ever go astray. The leading search engine blew away expectations last night, with revenue climbing 42% and earnings handily topping expectations in a huge quarter. The robust showing was enough to send Google shares barreling past the $500 mark in after-hours trading last night.
Google's lead-generating prowess is pretty good in these uncertain times, when you consider that paid clicks came in 20% higher year over year. Pair up that showing with the even healthier revenue gains, and one can assume that advertisers are paying more for those clicks.
This is a rosy scenario for a company that was starting to feel mortal, after some unflattering third-party market research and uncharacteristic quarterly flops. Few people were still granting superhero status to the company whose stock peaked above $740 some five months ago. But clearly, Big G still knows where its cape is.
News to go
Another month, another win for Nintendo (OTC BB: NTDOY). According to industry-watcher NPD Group, the Japanese video game giant moved 721,000 Wii units in March, enough to make Wii the top-selling console in the United States. Nintendo also scored the top game title with last month's debut of Super Smash Brothers for the Wii. The cartoon fighting game sold 2.7 million copies. Will the PS3 or Xbox 360 ever start gaining ground on Nintendo's addictive system? If not, can their makers start a "Wii Surrender" campaign?
Its robotic arms are already revolutionizing the way surgeons operate, so what operating-table feat can Intuitive Surgical
You go, E*Trade Baby! E*Trade
Are you a (small-f) fool for the Citi? Let's hope not. Saddled with writedowns, Citigroup
And finally: Coffee, tea, or Microsoft
- Will the Yahoo!
bid go up or down?(Nasdaq: YHOO) - Can Xbox 360 games play on the Wii if the Wii keeps winning market share?
- What will it take for Vista to stick with people?
- Will the "I'm a PC" guy ever just flat-out deck the "I'm a Mac" guy?
Have a great day out there.