Google Up 5% After Topping Estimates

Google GOOG is up more than five percent in after hour trading after announcing its third-quarter earnings results. The company's EPS came in at $10.74 versus the Street estimate of $10.36. Earnings per share were up 19 percent from the year-ago period. Revenue arrived at $11.9 billion versus the estimated $14.84 billion. Sales were up five percent year-over-year. "Google had another strong quarter with $14.9 billion in revenue and great product progress," Larry Page, CEO of Google, said in a company release. "We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple, and intuitive experience regardless of your device." Google gained a large number of headlines during the September quarter, thanks in part to the new Nexus 7 and the first Moto X. The search engine giant also gained the media's attention when it acquired a number of patents from Foxconn, the company that is famous for manufacturing most of Apple's AAPL products. The company also acquired a popular Android and iOS app. In September Google launched a new subsidiary, Calico, that is dedicated to extending human life. The company also made headlines after it experienced a massive Gmail problem involving delivery issues and attachment fails. Related: Google Earnings Preview: Reading Between the Lines Despite this hiccup, analysts tended to have a positive view of Google in the days and weeks leading up to its earnings release. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating, while BGC Partners raised its Price Target from $810 to $850. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ