Google stock hits $1,000 for the first time
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Google’s (GOOG) shares jumped to an impressive all-time high above $1,000 after the search engine giant reported a surge in mobile and video advertising that helped drive quarterly revenue up 23 percent.
At least 15 brokerages raised price targets on the stock between $880 and $1,220, with Deutsche Bank raising its target price by 26 percent.
Shares rose by 13 percent to $1007.40 after the opening bell on the Nasdaq, before coming back down a few dollars.
Google says that paid clicks improved by a quarter in the three months ended Sept. 30, from a year earlier, the highest rate of growth in the past year.
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This offsets an 8 percent fall in average cost-per-click, the price advertisers pay Google when consumers click on ads.
"We view solid paid clicks growth to be a good indicator of demand, driven by the continued shift to mobile,'' J.P. Morgan analysts said. They had expected 21.5 percent growth.
Over the years, Google has worked hard to expand its reach far beyond the influential search engine that catapulted it to fame. Services have grown to include the video sharing site YouTube, and the Android operating system that runs on nearly 1 billion smartphones and tablets. The company ranks as the number 1 digital ad company by revenue, leaving rivals such as Yahoo and Facebook in the dust.
Google’s stock has climbed steadily in the last five years, more than doubling in value. Friday’s surge puts Google’s market capitalization to roughly $333 billion.
