The stock price of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) reached an all-time high after gaining more than 4% to around $1,183.50 per share during the extended hours trading after reporting its fourth quarter financial results and announcing its plan to split its stock.
Fourth quarter financial results
The search engine giant reported non-GAAP net income of $4.10 billion or $12.01 earnings per share, higher than $3.57 billion profit or $10.65earning per share in the year-ago quarter.
Larry Page, CEO of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) said, “We ended 2013 with another great quarter of momentum and growth. We made great progress across a wide range of product improvements and business goals. I’m also very excited about improving people’s lives even more with continued hard work on our user experiences.”
During the quarter, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) said its advertising revenue was consistent with its GAAP on a gross basis without subtracting its traffic acquisition costs (TAC). According to the company its $3.31 billion TAC represents 24% of its advertising revenues.
The search engine giant said it incurred $15 million restructuring and related charges and $11 million related tax benefits compared with $178 million and $65 million in the same quarter last year, respectively.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) posted a 17% increase in revenue to $16.86 billion. According to the company its standalone revenue rose 22% to $15.72 billion, which accounts 93% of total revenues. The company said Google Sites generated $10.55 billion; Google Networks $3.52 billion, Google International Segment $8.77 billion, and other revenues were $1.65 billion.
The search engine giant said its aggregate paid clicks increased 31% while the average cost-per-click declined 11% year-over-year.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has $58.72 billion cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2013. It has 47,756 full-time employees by the end of the year.
Google announces stock split
Patrick Pichette, CFO of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) informed analysts regarding the decision of the board of directors to split its stock. According to him, the stock split will start on April 3.
Commenting on the decision of the company, BGC Partners analyst, Colin Gillis said, “Google is just taking a dime and making it two nickels, but some investors do trade on stock splits like this. There’s a school of thought that splits like this make the stock more affordable for some investors.”
Google Sells Motorola Mobility
Yesterday, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced its definitive agreement to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR) (OTCMKTS: LNVGY) for $2.91 billion. The search engine giant will receive $1.41 billion ($660 million in cash and $750 million worth of ordinary shares of Lenovo) at close of the transaction, and the remaining $1.5 billion will be the form of a three-year promissory note.
During the quarter, Motorola Mobility generated $1.24 billion, which accounts 7% of its consolidated revenues.