Before the call: Google expected to report higher Q4 earnings

Posted Jan 22nd 2009 11:15AM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Google (GOOG)

Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 results today in a conference call at 4:30 AM Eastern, followed by a Q&A session for analysts. To listen in to the live webcasts, see Google's Webcasts and Events.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Google to report a fourth-quarter profit of $4.95 per share, up from to $4.43 per share in the year-ago period. Revenues for the quarter are expected to be 21.5% higher than a year ago to $4.1 billion. Google's earnings have beat estimates in three of the past five quarters, by as much as 32 cents per share.

For the full year, analysts expect a $19.33 per share profit (+19.3%) and revenue of $15.8 billion (+35.1%).

The consensus recommendation is to buy GOOG, and long-term EPS growth forecast is 18.7%. The share price is about 47% lower than it was a year ago.

See also Google Q4 earnings preview and BloggingStocks' Google coverage for more information about the company.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Tags: earnings, GOOG, Google