NEW YORK (AFP) - Shares in Internet search behemoth Google surpassed 700 dollars for the first time Wednesday, cementing the technology firm’s position as one of America’s most valuable companies.
Google’s shares closed up 1.7 percent at 707.00 dollars amid wider market gains as investors continued to snap up its shares. Its share price has multiplied by eight since its stock market debut in August 2004. It shares, which have rocketed 100 dollars in the past three weeks, were boosted by news reports which said Google was holding talks with Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel to market cellphones packed with Google software. Its stock has also jumped higher since Google announced better-than-expected earnings on October 18.
Google soundly beat most analysts’s forecasts as it posted a 45 percent gain in third quarter profits to 1.07 billion dollars amid surging online advertising revenues. The Internet search titan makes the bulk of its money by selling online advertising. It collects lucrative revenues by charging advertisers every time an Internet user clicks on an advert displayed on Google’s websites. Its name has also become a verb, to Google, among computer users surfing the Internet for information.
Source: Yahoo! News