Google Stock Hits New High
San Francisco — Google’s stock reached its all-time high, after new Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat signaled plans to bring more restraint to spending at the Internet search giant.
Google shares rose 16 percent to close at $699.62 in New York on Friday, marking their biggest gain since April 2008. The advance added $65 billion to the company’s market value and put the stock up 30 percent this month.
Profit and sales topped analysts’ estimates in the second quarter, and operating expenses rose at the slowest pace since 2013. On a conference call after the results were released Thursday, Porat — who joined the company in May from Morgan Stanley — said she was focused on cost controls.
As the company seeks ways to boost revenue growth in its main Web search-advertising business and beyond, Chief Executive Officer Larry Page has been investing in new — and sometimes expensive — projects, from driverless cars to fast Internet service. Porat has bolstered investor confidence that the company will balance spending on such initiatives with the need to keep a tighter rein on expenses.
“People are realizing it’s a new era,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial. “She’s coming in and she’s expressing what investors wanted — that’s there’s going to be cost rationalization, a degree of discipline.”
