Google profit beats expectations

Google profit beats expectations

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google's quarterly profit topped expectations, helped by cost controls, but Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the economic environment remains tough with Internet users still searching but buying less.
Shares of the No. 1 U.S. Internet search company initially rose 5 percent on the stronger-than-expected results, but then erased gains to trade flat after hours.
"We're still basically in uncharted territory," Schmidt said on a conference call. "Google is absolutely feeling the impact. Users are still searching but they're buying less. Ultimately, what that really means is the ads are converting less."
Compared to other Internet and media companies that depend on advertising revenue, Google has been extremely resilient to the economic downturn, though its revenue growth has slowed sharply from the heady 50 percent rates it used to enjoy.
Google reported first-quarter revenue of $5.51 billion, up 6 percent from the year-ago quarter but down 3 percent from the 2008 fourth quarter -- its first ever sequential decline. The figure was in line with average Wall Street expectations.

The Week Ahead in the U.S.

The Week Ahead in the U.S.
4/10/2009
A large batch of economic data and the first big slew of corporate earnings will mark a busy week. Five Dow components are among the dozens of companies putting out financial results. Stacey Delo reports. (April 10)

Exxon Mobil breaks its own mark for full-year profit

Exxon Mobil shatters US record for annual profit
Exxon Mobil breaks its own mark for full-year profit, but fourth-quarter results tumble

HOUSTON (AP) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.
The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.
The extraordinary full-year profit wasn't a surprise given crude's triple-digit price for much of 2008, peaking near an unheard of $150 a barrel in July. Since then, however, prices have fallen roughly 70 percent amid a deepening global economic crisis.
In the fourth quarter alone crude tumbled 60 percent, prompting spending and job cuts in an industry that was reporting robust, often record, profits as recently as last summer.