Google Reports $805 Million in Gross Revenues for Third Quarter
Google (GOOG on the stock market) today announced financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2004. Total revenue in the quarter totaled a record $805.9 million, representing a 15 percent increase over the second quarter of 2004 and a 105 percent year-over-year gain. The revenue generation was more or less split between Google owned sites and web sites which are part of the Google AdSense program.
Google-owned sites generated $411.7 million or 51 percent of total revenue. This represents an increase of 99 percent over the third quarter of 2003. Google AdSense contributed $384.3 million, or 48 percent of total revenue, a 120 percent increase over the Network revenue generated in the same quarter last year.
The Yahoo trademark dispute did effect Google earnings during this quarter. Income from operations in the quarter, on a GAAP basis, totaled $11.1 million or 1.4 percent of revenue, and included a non-cash charge of $68.0 million for stock-based compensation as well as a non-cash, non-recurring charge of $201.0 million associated with the previously announced settlement of disputes with Yahoo. Without the non-recurring charge, income from operations would have been $212.1 million, or 26.3 percent of revenues as compared to $66.6 million or 16.9 percent of revenue in the same period of 2003. This improvement in operating margins, before the settlement of disputes with Yahoo, was primarily due to proportionately lower advertising revenue from Google Network members’ sites, which resulted in lower traffic acquisition cost as a percentage of total revenue.
Net income on a GAAP basis increased to $52.0 million or 6.5 percent of revenues in the third quarter as compared to $20.4 million or 5.2 percent of revenue in the third quarter of 2003. Earnings on a diluted per share basis were $0.19 as compared to $0.08 in the third quarter of 2003. Net income included the after tax effect of the non-cash and non-recurring settlement charge of $119.0 million and a tax benefit of $46.0 million related to certain stock-based compensation charges recognized prior to the IPO. Net income before these non-recurring items was $125.0 million, or $0.45 per share.
“We are very pleased with the results of this quarter. Record revenues, robust margins and cash generation all illustrated strong performance and execution over the last quarter,” said Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive officer. “Our commitment to users and to the development of quality products and services for them clearly translated into robust financial results. That dedication to our users, combined with our relentless technology innovation and market opportunity make us very optimistic about our company’s future.”
