Google shares jump on profit rise

Google's robust earnings have lifted US internet stocks

Shares in Google have leapt to record highs after the internet search engine reported bumper quarterly profits.

At the close of trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, shares in the firm were up more than 12% at $339.84.

Google reported a third quarter net income of $381.2m (£215m) after the closing bell on Thursday, from $52m in the same period last year.

Other US internet stocks rose on the news, with rival Yahoo up almost 0.17% at $35.34 and eBay up 0.36% at $39.31.

Shares in Chinese search engine Baidu.com, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year, closed up up 6% at $70.

New products

We surprised ourselves this quarter - business was much stronger than I expected Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive The future for Google See Google's shares

Google said its revenues in the three months to 30 September hit $1.578bn, up 96% on the same quarter last year. Most of the company's revenue comes from advertising sales.

The company's positive earnings report, which topped Wall Street forecasts, led several brokerages to increase their target price on Google's stock.

"We surprised ourselves this quarter. Business was much stronger than I expected," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

Google said the introduction of new products, including instant messaging and upgrades to its mapping services, had attracted more users during the summer - traditionally a slow season in the industry.

The latest quarterly profits were the highest of any three-month period since Google was launched seven years ago.

The California-based company floated its shares in the US in August 2004, in what was the third richest US-based IPO on the Nasdaq exchange.

Last year's third-quarter results included a $201m charge to account for a legal settlement with Yahoo.