Google’s Earnings May Get Slammed By Motorola: PiperJaffray

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A report from PiperJaffray expects Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) to post “relatively positive” third quarter results. Google’s core business are expected to exceed the analyst’s estimates of 6 percent quarterly growth, but Motorola’s performance may lag the current Street estimates assume. Over all, report believes that investors will be more than happy with Google’s “core business out-performance than Motorola’s under-performance”, but Motorola’s under-performance could bring back the earlier concerns over its growth. “However, the risk is that Motorola was previously a larger concern for investors and a disappointing quarter may bring the concern back to the forefront” report says.

Google's Earnings May Get Slammed By Motorola: PiperJaffray

On its estimates that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) will outperform the consensus, the report explains that in the previous three quarters, Google has posted an average quarterly growth of 7.9 percent in its core business, with a range of 7.6 percent to 8.6 percent. The Internet giant is likely to exceed the current consensus of 6 percent quarterly growth in its core business, mainly due to an improved ad environment. As per the report “Google is likely to post sequential growth in its core business, greater than the current 6% Street expectation, based on an improved ad environment, as witnessed in our daily display checks, as well as positive third party data indications on search”.

The search engine giant’s CPC (Cost per Click) was down 16 percent on a yearly basis in the second quarter, and “represented the third straight quarter of accelerating CPC decline”. The report believes the yearly decline will continue in the third quarter and expects the CPC to decline by 14 percent year over year and about 1 percent quarterly. The second quarter also witnessed the third straight quarter of accelerating paid click growth, “a by-product of lower CPCs”. Due to this, the report expects the “paid click growth to decelerate in Q3 to 38% from 42% y/y growth”.

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI) is expected to witness a weak performance in the third quarter, as it continues its turnaround.  Making things worse, are the tough competition from the Samsung Galaxy SIII and iPhone 5. The report expects the revenue for Motorola to decline by 12 percent year over year for both third and fourth quarter.  The report also believes that Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI) will not be coming up with any compelling smartphone to compete with Samsung and Apple, “We do not believe Motorola will put forward any type of compelling smartphone to compete with Samsung and Apple until mid-2013”.

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