Google Q1  '08: EPS Beats By 32 Cents- Shares Surge 21%

April 18, 2008

Google reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Google's results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, include the operations of DoubleClick from the date of acquisition, March 11, 2008, through the end of the quarter, and are compared to pre-acquisition results of prior periods. The overall impact of DoubleClick in the first quarter of 2008 was immaterial to revenue and only slightly dilutive to both GAAP and non-GAAP operating income, net income and earnings per share.

Google reported revenues of $5.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, an increase of 42% compared to the first quarter of 2007 and an increase of 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2007. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs, or TAC. In the first quarter of 2008, TAC totaled $1.49 billion, or 29% of advertising revenues.

For the quarter, net income grew to $1.31 billion, or $4.12 a share, from $1 billion, or $3.18 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted for certain items, Google earned $4.84 a share. Analysts were expecting $4.52 a share.

Google shares surged 21%, to $543.51 -- their highest level since February. However, Google's stock is still about 20% lower for the year.

"Our ongoing innovation in search, ads, and apps helped drive healthy growth globally across our product lines, yielding another strong quarter for Google," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. "As we integrate DoubleClick into our advertising platform, we see exciting new ways to improve the user experience and increase value for our advertisers and partners. Also, while exercising operational discipline, we continue to explore opportunities that add value to users everywhere and to Google in the long term."

Revenues – Google reported revenues of $5.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, representing a 42% increase over first quarter 2007 revenues of $3.66 billion and a 7% increase over fourth quarter 2007 revenues of $4.83 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.

Google Sites Revenues - Google-owned sites generated revenues of $3.40 billion, or 66% of total revenues, in the first quarter of 2008. This represents a 49% increase over first quarter 2007 revenues of $2.28 billion and a 9% increase over fourth quarter 2007 revenues of $3.12 billion.

Google Network Revenues - Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $1.69 billion, or 33% of total revenues, in the first quarter of 2008. This represents a 25% increase over network revenues of $1.35 billion generated in the first quarter of 2007 and a 3% increase over fourth quarter 2007 revenues of $1.64 billion.

International Revenues - Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $2.65 billion, representing 51% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 47% in the first quarter of 2007 and 48% in the fourth quarter of 2007. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the first quarter of 2008, our revenues in the first quarter of 2008 would have been $18 million lower. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the first quarter of 2007 through the first quarter of 2008, our revenues in the first quarter of 2008 would have been $202 million lower.

Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $803 million, representing 15% of revenue in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 16% in the first quarter of 2007 and 14% in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 20% over the first quarter of 2007 and approximately 4% over the fourth quarter of 2007.

TAC - Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $1.49 billion in the first quarter of 2008. This compares to TAC of $1.44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 29% in the first quarter, compared to 30% in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The majority of TAC expense is related to amounts ultimately paid to our AdSense partners, which totaled $1.34 billion in the first quarter of 2008. TAC is also related to amounts ultimately paid to certain distribution partners and others who direct traffic to our website, which totaled $143 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Other Cost of Revenues - Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of data center operational expenses, credit card processing charges as well as content acquisition costs, increased to $624 million, or 12% of revenues, in the first quarter of 2008, compared to $516 million, or 11% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Pursuant to our acquisition of DoubleClick, we allocated $862 million to identified intangible assets, which have a weighted average useful life of 6.3 years.

Operating Expenses - Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $1.53 billion in the first quarter of 2008, or 30% of revenues, compared to $1.43 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, or 30% of revenues. The operating expenses in the first quarter of 2008 included $809 million in payroll-related and facilities expenses, compared to $756 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) – In the first quarter of 2008, the total charge related to SBC was $281 million as compared to $245 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

We currently estimate stock-based compensation charges for grants to employees prior to April 1, 2008 to be approximately $1.1 billion for 2008. This does not include expenses to be recognized related to employee stock awards that are granted after April 1, 2008 or non-employee stock awards that have been or may be granted. We currently anticipate that dilution related to all equity grants to employees will be at or below 2% this year.

Operating Income - GAAP operating income in the first quarter of 2008 was $1.55 billion, or 30% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $1.44 billion, or 30% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP operating income in the first quarter of 2008 was $1.83 billion, or 35% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $1.69 billion, or 35% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Net Income – GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $1.31 billion as compared to $1.21 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP net income was $1.54 billion in the first quarter of 2008, compared to $1.41 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. GAAP EPS for the first quarter of 2008 was $4.12 on 317 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $3.79 for the fourth quarter of 2007, on 318 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS for the first quarter of 2008 was $4.84, compared to $4.43 in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Income Taxes – Our effective tax rate was 24% for the first quarter of 2008.

Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures – Net cash provided by operating activities for the first quarter of 2008 totaled $1.78 billion as compared to $1.69 billion for the fourth quarter of 2007. In the first quarter of 2008, capital expenditures were $842 million, the majority of which was related to IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment. Free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. In the first quarter of 2008, free cash flow was $938 million.

We expect to continue to make significant capital expenditures.

A reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure of liquidity, is included at the end of this release.

Cash – As of March 31, 2008, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $12.1 billion.

On a worldwide basis, Google employed 19,156 full-time employees as of March 31, 2008, up from 16,805 full-time employees as of December 31, 2007. Of the 2,351 employees added in the first quarter of 2008, approximately 1,500 were associated with DoubleClick. Since the close of the acquisition, Google has conducted a review of its ongoing headcount requirements and approximately 10% of the DoubleClick workforce was laid off in the U.S. in early April.