Google shmoogle. Don't waste your time or your money! Consider the following as I ramble on about investor speculation.
1. It's overvalued by almost every metric you can think of; price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-book value, price-to-cash flow. It can only hold up if you think its gross margins and profitability will continue unabated regardless of competition, R&D costs, new unprofitable enterprises, and its size.
2. Too many shareholders are momentum investors and will run for the doors in panic with their feet on fire when momentum shifts downward.
3. Expanding into China will be difficult no matter how many compromises management makes. The Chinese will do everything in their power (which is a lot), to make sure it is a Chinese company that eventually rules this space.
4. Competition from Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), Amazon (AMZN), Time Warner - AOL (TWX) , News Corp. (NWS), InterActiveCorp (IACI), and a multitude of others is substantial and growing. They are not standing still and will create obstacles to Google at every turn.
5. Management insiders are selling shares. Yes, it makes sense for them to diversify. But if they are playing it safe, shouldn't you? By the way, Warren Buffett has never sold any appreciable shares in his company Berkshire Hathaway since he thinks it's the best thing you could possibly invest in.
6. Google had a great idea, it paid off, now what? All the added features are just that, features. It has no incremental value at a scale that will expand the company at the rate of the initial search concept.
7. Almost every highflyer in the Internet age has had to get real or get out. We may still be playing a game of quick buck traders hanging on until the first sign of weakness and thinking they will be smart enough to beat the rush to the door. If so, than see item #2.
8. Market history over the past 80 years has favored small cap stocks over large, dividend paying companies over non-dividend paying companies and, low price-to-sales (P/S) value investments over growth.
9. Trees don't grow to the sky. See my post, "Google me this, Batman."
10. Does not pass the equivalence test. Google closed today with a capitalization of approximately $122 billion. To give you some perspective, that is the equivalent of Anheuser Busch (BUD) $35B + Federal Express (FDX) $34.5B + Starbucks (SBUX) $28B + Harley Davidson (HDI) $14.5B + Black & Decker (BKD) $6.5B and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) $3.5B combined. In my opinion, if someone offered you all six of these companies for all your shares in Google and you told them to take a hike than you are nuts. (Disclosure: I own many of these stocks. Read more about me here.)
I'm sure you could come up with your own equivalence test but these are time tested, well managed, valuable enterprises with strong brands and to me owning Google instead is folly. I can't say it in any simpler language than that.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-21-2006 @ 8:55PM
R. Van Ort said...
Let's have more real company news and do away with the "Blogging Stocks" Bullshit !
6-22-2006 @ 12:52AM
steveh said...
11. Search is being commoditized
6-22-2006 @ 9:30AM
Pepi said...
Sheldon sounds like a man who has shorted Google and is now caught with his pants down!
6-22-2006 @ 9:50AM
Ivan said...
Google is going down, its inevitable. What I find more interesting is that this post was made after the Motely Fool made a very similar article yesterday. Is this truly original thought on bloggingstocks part?
The sad thing is that many people read this site and think its actual analysis but its more "fanboy" raves and rants.
6-22-2006 @ 11:42AM
sam obenchain said...
#10 Of the stocks you listed all but ISRG are stocks that have already been around for some time. Both GOOG and ISRG have true explosive groth potential.
7-18-2006 @ 4:59PM
James said...
Google will eventually tank. If someone knows when let me know so I know when to short ... else congratulations to all those riding this one higher ... and you're idiots for not being warned when it dies a long, slow, painful decline.
7-18-2006 @ 7:28PM
Sheldon said...
BTW: Have not shorted Google. Just looking for sanity in the market place and near term there is none in Google.
7-20-2006 @ 8:04PM
Paul said...
Hahaha.
All those looking stupid, say what you already said. Whether you like it or not, you are just like those blokes wishin the real estate market down in 2002-2004. No matter how hard you wish, you are clearly just pissed cuz you missed it.
Keep missing it, keep complaining.