Google, owner of the world’s largest search engine, reported profit that topped analysts’ projections as advertisers boosted spending to reach consumers during an extended holiday shopping season.
Fourth-quarter profit, excluding certain items, rose to $10.65 a share. Analysts had projected per-share earnings of $10.50, according to Bloomberg.
“People were probably expecting something more on the downside and results were pretty good,” said Benjamin Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities USA.
Shares of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google rose in late trading, after earlier slipping less than 1 percent to $702.87 at the close in New York.
Revenue, excluding sales passed on to partner sites, was $12.2 billion, compared with $12.4 billion projected by analysts.
Sales from operations excluding the Motorola Home set-top box unit, which Google agreed to sell last month, were $14.4 billion.
Arris Group agreed to buy the Motorola Home unit for $2.35 billion in December.