Monday, July 18, 2011

"Google: Clapping, Cheering, Whooping..." (Analyst Roundup) GOOG

Ch.1:
In which we reunite former Tech Trader Daily blogging machine Eric Savitz with his pal Tiernan Ray.*
From Forbes:
Celebrate good times. C’mon.
Google late yesterday reported June quarter results that simply smashed Street expectations in every possible way, and analysts are responding Friday morning by ratcheting up their price targets for the stock....

Here’s a quick rundown on some of the Street’s comments on the quarter:
  • UBS analysts Brian Pitz and Brian Fitzgerald repeated their Buy rating, while upping their target on the stock to $800, from $765. “Both paid click (+18% year-over-year) and cost per click growth (+12%) accelerated, suggesting strong user and advertiser demand,” they write. “Paid clicks were in-part driven by richer image ad formats, which get more clicks. Display – another bright spot – is increasingly moving towards a more scientific model often featuring real-time bidding.” And they add: “Following last quarters earnings call, some said GOOG was a ‘show-me story’. We believe this performance should be sufficient to dispel most doubts.”
  • Barclays analyst Anthony J. DiClemente repeated his Overweight rating while lifting his target to $730, from $675. “We believe the Google investment thesis will continue to improve from here,” he writes. “In his first quarter as CEO, Larry Page confidently presided over a Qw where underlying trends in core search showed both pricing and unit acceleration. Though operating leverage may remain a concern for GOOG skeptics, we think this issue will begin to lose relevance as revenue accelerated at its fastest rate in 3 years.”
...MUCH MORE including video
And from TTD:
Google: Growth, And CEO Page’s Turnaround, Spike Estimates, Price Targets
...Analysts this morning raised their estimates and price targets across the board, with the highest at this point apparently being $830, now that Google is “out of the penalty box,” even if there’s some lingering concerns about spending and margins. Many rave reviews can be seen of the performance by CEO Larry Page on the call, who was beginning to attract a reputation as being shareholder-unfriendly.
Doug Anmuth, JP Morgan: Reiterates an Overweight rating while raising his price target to $707 from $660. He notes that leaving aside foreign-exchange conversion, currency-neutral revenue growth of 28.9% overseas was the highest the company’s seen since Q4 of 2008. The results show Google’s investments in search and in the newer initiatives “are clearly paying off.” Given the revenue growth level, investors have “re-based” their expectations for Ebitda profit and should be more comfortable with the 50%-or-so margin level. “It is increasingly apparent that Google is a more focused company under new CEO Larry Page. Google’s streamlined management structure has improved decision making speed and made Google more nimble. Google+ is also enhancing the halo effect across Google products by better integrating the product suite.” Anmuth raised his 2011 EPS estimate to $35.66 from a prior $34.46, while lifting 2012′s estimate to $42.60 from $41.34.

Youssef Squali, Jefferies & Co.: Reiterates a Buy rating, while raising his price target to $830 from a prior $800. “Search is still a robust growth engine for Google,” he writes. International growth in clicks picked up speed, even as domestic growth slowed, he notes. The emerging businesses are on a “run rate” for $3.5 billion in revenue this year, he estimates, which would be up from $2.5 billion last year. “On Google+, and in what is still deemed a “project”, the service has 10M+ users, already after only 2 weeks of limited licenses. While still early, and after two failed attempts at social, Google seems to be well positioned to effectively compete with Facebook with Google+.” Squali raised his EPS estimates for 2011 to $34.09 from a prior $33.35, while lifting 2012 to $43.64 from a prior $40.64....MUCH MORE
*Nov. 20, 2010 
Eric Savitz is Leaving Barron's, Tiernan Ray Will Take Over at Tech Trader Daily

Dec. 6, 2010 
Barron's and Journo Tiernan Ray are Class Acts

Feb.1, 2010
Eric Savitz Turned 15,000 Today

Nov. 4, 2008 
Solar: Eric Savitz, Wordsmith Extrordinaire at Barron's, Has Lost It
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