The search engine company’s shares have begun to drift downward since their secondary stock offering took place.
Conventional wisdom on stock issuances and buybacks says companies should repurchase shares when they are undervalued, and issue more when they are overvalued. The Wall Street Journal had posited this as the reason why Google announced it would issue more stock.
Elements of Google’s public filings show a worry about competition, among other factors. Those factors could have an impact on earnings, especially one rumored event: Microsoft pairing with AOL and kicking out Google’s search and advertising products.
Instead of waiting for the stock to take the kind of drop that would have investors thinking of 2000 again, a secondary offering by Google would serve to deflate the ballooning shares.
A month has passed since the secondary offering, and the gentle exhalation of air seems to have started. Google stock hit a 52-week high of $321.28 on October 4. Today it’s selling at $293.40 in intraday trading.
Next week, Google will reveal its latest quarterly earnings. The company’s chief accountant posted on the official Google blog how the firm will state its earnings in a manner that conforms more with Wall Street expectations.
Investors punished Apple recently when it announced it shipped fewer iPods than analysts expected. Apple’s stock fell, despite the company quadrupling net income.
One can only imagine how investors will handle Google’s earnings statement next week, regardless of its content.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
