Google has announced their first-quarter financial results, and it appears that the company, while doing very well, did not meet with revenue expectations, despite the company's earnings doing so.
Net income for the company rose 16 percent in the first quarter of the year, increasing to $3.35 billion dollars overall, or $9.94 per share. If stock option costs and tax benefits related to those stock options are taken out, then this number rises to $11.58 a share, beating the set goal of $10.69 per share. Overall, the company managed a $13.97 billion in first quarter revenue. However, net revenue did not meet the $11.3 billion goal forecasted, instead falling at $11.01 billion. Google's chief executive, Larry Page, had this to say to The New York Times about his company's financial news:
"We had a very strong start to 2013...We are working hard and investing in our products that aim to improve billions of people's lives all around the world."
Google blamed the missed financial goals on the shift of consumers using mobile phones increasingly over desktops. Google makes a large bulk of their revenue on ads. Mobile ads cost less than ads that would appear on desktops, and they receive far less clicks than those on desktops. Google must find a way to shift from one type of ad revenue to the other if they want to continue to receive good numbers financially.
One other good piece of financial news for Google is that, while they did not meet all their goals, they are growing quickly in share prices, while their chief competitor, Apple, shares have shrunken. In a year's time, Google's share price rose 26 percent, while Apple's fell by 6 percent. Google may have to use this time when their rival is up against the ropes to find a way to come back swinging financially.