Thomas Weisel Partners Reiterates Google Overweight Rating (GOOG)

In a report released by Thomas Weisel Partners today, the firm reiterated their Overweight rating on shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and their $690 price target. The analysts said that they "would add to positions on weakness as we believe investments in key areas of product development are key to extending Google's lead in search to mobile and display media."

They said that their $690 price target is based on a blended valuation approach using earnings, EBITDA and free cash flow multiples. The report states that "our greatest takeaway from Google's report was the number of times that the word "investment" was used: it was 24x during the call (we counted). Google's operating expenses were flat in 2009. Now, the company is reinvesting in the face of growth. In our view, this is also why long-term investors should take advantage of the stock weakness. As long as Google continues to gain share of online advertising, and online gains share of total, then the re-investment should or will have a very positive ROI."