Things to watch as Google reports earnings today: Its new CFO, Ruth Porat of Wall Street fame, will preside over her first earnings call for the company. And the word of the day is growth.
A couple of reports this week addressed Google s growth issues: The Wall Street Journal wrote that the Silicon Valley tech giant is tightening its belt, including in hiring, as it matures. And Google search and display ads continue to grow, but at slower rates, according to the quarterly Adobe Digital Index.
Porat, who came aboard in May from Morgan Stanley, has been looking at Google s costs, revenue and accounting systems, according to the Journal article. And the company is reportedly being more selective about its hiring.
Meanwhile, the Adobe report estimates that even though Google still commands most of search revenue, its revenue from search ads rose just 1 percent to 2 percent in the second quarter, compared with 4.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. A consumer survey found Facebook ads to be of genuine interest more than they did YouTube ads. And mobile continues to be a question mark.
Despite growth concerns, analysts expect second-quarter profit of $6.70 a share on revenue of $14.3 billion, compared with $6.08 a share on $12.7 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Google has missed analyst expectations for sales and profit for the past several quarters.
Some analysts are saying Porat s Wall Street background may mean increased reporting transparency from Google. Maybe breaking out separate results for YouTube and mobile search ads, for example? Or that may be wishful thinking.
Google shares are up about 2.3 percent to $573.20.
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