Alphabet Inc (GOOG)

[SeriousMoney]

Earnings Preview: Google
AP, Tuesday April 18, 2:02 pm ET

Google 1Q Results Seen Meeting or Beating Street Expectations

NEW YORK (AP) -- Google Inc. reports earnings for the first quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Mountain View, Calif.-based Google recently unveiled a calendar service that allows users to store appointments online, receive reminders about them and share those plans with others, bringing the Internet search company a step closer to becoming more of an all-purpose portal to rival Yahoo Inc. Google also during the quarter announced an offering of 5.3 million shares to raise more than $2 billion for expansion plans.

Yahoo, one of the largest online information portals, during the quarter announced a deal with CBS Corp. to bring video from CBS's popular "60 Minutes" program to Yahoo's web sites, beginning this fall. Yahoo is also teaming up with AT&T Corp. to offer cobranded mobile Web services on a new Nokia handset. The service, called AT&T Yahoo! Go Mobile, will allow users to access their AT&T Yahoo! services, such as mail, photos, address book and calendar, on pre-loaded Nokia 6682 handsets from Cingular Wireless.

EXPECTATIONS: Analysts expect Google, which doesn't issue financial guidance, to report first-quarter earnings of $1.98 per share on revenue of $1.44 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

ANALYST TAKE: "We believe Google will meet or exceed investor expectations on both top- and bottom-line numbers," Denise Garcia, an analyst at W.R. Hambrecht & Co. said in a client note Monday. "Google enjoys little competition in search monetization, is increasing its share of search and advertiser base and has managed Street expectations."

Garcia maintained her "Buy" rating and of Google and reitereated her price target of $480.

Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post, in a client note, said he expects Google to meet or beat the Street's revenue expectations. "Google should continue to gain share until search improvement efforts by Microsoft, Yahoo and others begin to take effect," Post said Monday in a research note.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: Google shares fell 10 percent during the quarter and are off 7 percent for the year so far. The stock recently fell $2.33 to $404.49 on the Nasdaq.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060418/earns_preview_google.html?.v=1