Google stocks plummet as poor Q3 earnings are published prematurely
Bit of a rocky day over at Google HQ after a publishing error saw the company’s stock price plummet.
Google had to suspend trading on NASDAQ last night following the premature release of their Q3 earnings report, which showed Google to have had a less than stellar quarter, down year-on-year considerably.
Adding to the embarrassing situation, the premature release was headed by a placeholder line, “Pending Larry Quote”, suggesting the report was far from ready for public consumption and lacking a final thought from CEO Larry Page.
With trading ceased and the gaffe made public, Google’s share price fell $70 (£43) per share.
Google released the following statement:
“Earlier this morning RR Donnelley, the financial printer, informed us that they had filed our draft 8K earnings statement without authorisation. We have ceased trading on NASDAQ while we work to finalise the document. Once it’s finalised we will release our earnings, resume trading on NASDAQ and hold our earnings call as normal at 1:30 PM PT.”
The eventual official report revealed that Google’s earnings for the quarter were $2.74 billion (£1.7 billion), down from $3.06 billion (£1.9 billion) year-on-year. That led to earnings of $9.03 (£5.62) per share, considerably lower than analysts’ predictions of $10.65 (£6.63) per share.
