Search engine giant Google rose above the $800 mark on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Tuesday, putting the company's value at an estimated $265 billion dollars.
The company's stock has seen plenty of interested buyers in recent weeks as Google stock (GOOG) has jumped 13 percent since the beginning of 2013 and 33 percent over the last 52 weeks. The stock's rise comes despite Microsoft's recent campaign to draw internet users to its Outlook email service and the EU's allegations that Google is not complying with the union's privacy laws, News reports say.
Google's closing stock price was 806.84, up 13.95 points since stock exchanges closed for the long Presidents' Day weekend. The company's latest earning report released on January 22 indicated Google earned $2.89 billion in profits for the fourth quarter of 2012, an increase of 6.7 percent from a year earlier.
Some analysts expected the stock price to rise to range from $800 to $900 after Google finished 2012 with a 10 percent increase in earnings compared to 2011. The company earned $10.74 billion in profits on $50 billion in revenue.
But there are some obstacles that can detour Google's rise. Microsoft has launched a new ad campaign to lure Google email users that may have doubts about their account privacy.
"Google goes through every Gmail that's sent or received, looking for keywords so they can target Gmail users with paid ads," the Microsoft ad says, adding that Outlook does not scan emails.
Another issue Google will need to confront are European Union regulators who claim the company's practices do not comply with EU privacy laws.
"At the end of a four-month delay accorded to Google to comply with the European data protection directive and to implement effectively (our) recommendations, no answer has been given," France's CNIL data protection agency said on Monday, adding regulators intend to take action and enforce the law.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
