Google Climbs on Q4 Results

Shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) were trading around 4 percent higher to $729.00 in Tuesday's after hours trading session after the company released its highly anticipated fourth-quarter earnings results. During the regular trading session, the stock fell 0.23 percent to $702.87 heading into the report. The company reported GAAP net income of $2.89 billion or $8.62 per share, compared to $2.71 billion or $8.22 per share, in last year's corresponding quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, which is comparable to analysts' consensus, Google reported net income of $3.57 billion or $10.65 per share, versus $3.13 billion or $9.50 per share, in last year's fourth-quarter. This came in slightly ahead of analysts' consensus earnings per share estimates of $10.52. Revenue soared in the period on the back of the company's acquisition of Motorola Mobility last year. Consolidated revenue was up 36 percent to $14.42 billion in the period. This easily exceeded Wall Street revenue expectations of $12.36 billion. The company's traffic acquisition costs were $3.08 billion versus $2.45 billion last year. Traffic acquisition costs as a percentage of ad revenue was 25 percent in the most recent quarter versus 24 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2011.