Google's Earnings Disappoint, But The Stock Doesn't!

After Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) big news Wednesday that the company had sold off its Motorola Mobility business to Lenovo Group (OTC: LNVGY) for $2.9 billion, the search engine behemoth announced its earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2013 Thursday after the bell.

All in all, the report wasn’t very exciting.

The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $16.86 billion, which is an increase of 17 percent, to $14.07 billion, over the same quarter last year.

Net revenue was $13.55 billion, up from $11.34 billion. Net income rose 17 percent to $3.38 billion, or $9.90 a share. Excluding the cost of stock options and related tax benefits, Google’s profit was $12.01 a share, up from $10.65 a year ago.

Analysts, as polled by Thomson Reuters, had expected revenue of $16.75 billion and earnings, excluding the cost of stock options, of $12.26 a share. Google also reported that its board had approved a stock dividend.

Considering that the Mountain View, California-based company reported one of its best quarters in years this past October, this most recent quarter was somewhat of a disappointment.

In its core business, Google’s paid clicks were up 31 percent in Q4, which was better than what analysts had expected. However, the cost-per-click was down 11 percent, which was worse than predicted.

Strangely enough, the stock was up almost five percent in after-hours trading. That jump is on top of the 2.5 percent gain the stock had already logged during the regular trading session.

At this point it would appear that whether it be a good earnings quarter, or a subpar quarter, Wall Street loves Google.

Next up, $1,200 a share?