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Google Takes Top Spot From Time Warner
newfoundry writes "BBC News reports that Google hit $80bn on the NYSE yesterday, so is now worth more than Time Warner..."
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How much further until they surpass Microsoft?
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I remember the last time a technology company got headlines for "being the largest company on earth" in terms of market capitalization. I knew I should've sold my Cisco that day...
I mean come on, this is so completely unrealistic that ity smacks of the old days of the Internet Bubble. TW at least has real assets that can be valued, while Google is primarily a IP (intellectual property) company. Yes they do make search devices, yes they do have a Proven (albeit short) track record of innovation, but valuing this company at that figure is totally over-reaching. Their P/E ratio is so over-blown that no serious investor can look at this as anything other than a over-correction based upon the fact that Google is an Internet darling and one of the few that surivived the purge and actually PROFITED.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It's a statistic, and judging by the frontpage on google, every advertiser should take a hint that people want simplicity. Can we dump holy water on the flames of hell caused by shockwave advertisements, or websites consisting of one single image with URL mapping its regions? After-all, Google can't profile a website that is more a media center than a DOCUMENT.
/ducks
vi
without prejudice
Both have Market caps at about $18B. If Google were to make a strategic investment of $5-9B in either or both, they could run the internal IT as well as insert Google things in cars. Employee e-mail, calendar, document management, and search by Google, Google maps and yellow pages in the cars, etc.
The world will not get better through technology. We must seek to be better people.
TW at least has real assets that can be valued, while Google is primarily a IP (intellectual property) company.
.Com era actually making profits? Certain tech companies (IBM, MS, Apple) on the other hand, have managed to justify these high IPO values since their stock rises are now near-legendary on wall street.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the vast majority of TW's worth is their film/music catalogue. Which is um...IP.
Google's major earnings come not from licensing IP, but from advertising revenue, making it not unlike a traditional media outlet (e.g. TV station) as far as revenue model goes.
I would agree with your earnings assement. Google has shown that they can grow fast while remaining profitable on a sustainable revenue model. Does anyone remember the companies during the
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
Allow me to rephrase: Some people think it's worth more than Time Warner.
Well the stock market thinks so.
And frankly, on many other levels I'd have to agree that I think Google is "worth" far more than Time Warner. In terms of my daily life Google is worth much more. In terms of respect I have for people owning and operating the companies Google is worth a lot more. In terms of value to humanity, no question that Google is worth more.
So I would say you could almost make the case that people do not just THINK it's worth more, but all measures it is in fact worth more - currently even monetarily.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If you use last year's profit to gauge Google's P/E (113) it looks like an overvalued stock. But Google posted an HUGE 1st quarter profit with a target of about $6 per share this year. At the current price of $285, that makes Google's current P/E 47.5 which is less than both Yahoo and Ebay and they're not growing anywhere near as fast as Google. This is what is fueling the recent rally.
The same function is performed far better by the BBC. CNN is really not providing as much added value as it would seem.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You certainly can compare 100 years ago to today. There has been no fundamental revolution in the way business is done or organized--incremental changes to the rules don't comprise some sort of historical discontinuity.
I think you underestimate the level of power that was once directly wielded by corporations. All you need to do is read a book about the Robber Barron era and you'll see what they got away with. They rather openly bought and sold Senators, rather than the timid influencing with perks and donations that corporations are allowed today. They could (legally) raise private militias and use them against other U.S. citizens if they unionized or agitated.
Our government rightly broke them up. Microsoft doesn't nearly have the power that the old corporations once had. Not even close.
The successor corporations have all declined. As they grew weaker they had to enter into mergers, rebrand themselves, get bought, etc. in order to arrest their decline. New companies developing new technologies are continually undermining the foundations of the old companies, and will continue to do so, until private enterprise is outlawed.
The Rise and Fall of Online Community
The growth is coming from several directions. First, the number of searches done with the core search product is ever increasing as the Internet grows around the world. Secondly, they keep on finding new products to throw in front of users like GMail and Google Maps. If someone starts using Google for multiple services, that's a lot of adds that they can show an individual person. And e-mail is something that many users check several times a day - hence several more opportunities for Google to show ads to someone.
The stock price is very high. But if they keep on making money hand over fist, they might actually be worth the price. It's a very different situation from the 1990's when companies that were losing money had multi-billion dollar market capitalizations.
I agree with this: unearned power, priveledge, and position are quite clearly antithetical to the spirit of free enterprise. This is one reason why I am staunchly against the Republican repeal of the inheritance tax. Stupid, stupid idea.
The Rise and Fall of Online Community
...and also, market cap == market cap. If a company traded on the NASDAQ is worth more dollars than a company traded on the NYSE, well, that's more dollars. More is more. Actual price of the stock is sorta secondary here, people aren't saying that the price of a single share of GOOG is now more than a single share of Time/Warner, though that is also true: TWX is going for ~$17, while GOOG did their IPO at $85 and are now flirting with $300!
Actually, if you look up the History of A&P it is almost identical to Wal Mart, except 100 years earlier- the expansion etc. I can't find it but there was a great comparison in I think Forbes a year or so ago.
One thing RE: Wal Mart- Wal Mart is hated, yet the people who work there make more than the the person who works where you buy your gasoline, and has a better chance of health ins. What shocks people, is Wal Mart employees make almost double what the people in mall stores make, yet no one is going after the gas stations or mall stores. There has been a lot of attention paid to the Wal Mart out here in Amish country (NE OHIO), with hitching posts in the lots. I hate to tell you but, many Wal Marts have hitching posts. Out here you see a lot of Horses and buggies, and at least half the time the Amish are on cell phones- hate to ruin the myth. Wal Mart got big doing what no one else would- opening stores in small towns where the big boys wouldn't tread. And guess what- it wasn't the prices we loved (they are great) it is the hours- the mom and pop stores that charge $3 for a roll of Bounty Paper Towels, well they were open till 5 on weekdays and maybe 3 hours on Saturday. Thats why we country Bumpkins (I am one) love Wal Mart- it is more the hours than the prices...
If I may mention something regarding the death tax- A: the money is taxed as it is earned, so if it is saved, it is taxed again when the person dies. B: You would be shocked to find out what our farms are worth- As urban sprawl attacks us, our farms are worth millions to deveopers, and are taxed as such at death.
And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
Not only is it a non-dividend-paying, 100+ P/E ratio dog of a stock, the shares are non-voting, and of course dilutable at the pleasure of its board.
What exactly are you getting when you buy this stock?