Google Misses Q4 Profit Outlook: Tax Impact
Google made $372 million, or $1.22 a share, up from the year-ago $204 million, or 71 cents a share. While these numbers are up and something many companies would love to have they are a big miss for Google and as a result shares (GOOG) are down $35.80 (-8.27%) this second.
One surprise came on the tax line, where Google had guided for 30% but came in at 31.6% for the year and 41.8% for the latest quarter. The company cited a rise in costs internationally. “Initially, the tax rate was a negative surprise,” says Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Capital Management, which owns Google shares. “Estimates were at 26%.” “Most of the miss was related to the tax impact,” CFO George Reyes said on the company’s postclose conference call with analysts. Google said it expects the tax rate to be back around 30% for 2006.
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