Google Snags Rare S&P Credit Rating Upgrade

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By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
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Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) now officially has one of the highest corporate credit ratings out there. Standard & Poor’s has raised the internet search giant’s corporate credit rating to AA and now has the rating outlook at Stable after the upgrade. The move is after a 45% gain in sales, about $2.2 billion in quarterly income, and a cash balance of about $46 billion. S&P has also affirmed its A-1+ short-term rating on the company.

“We raised the corporate credit rating to AA from AA- and removed the ratings from CreditWatch… The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the company will sustain its leadership position in online search, display, and advertising and will generate profitable growth in emerging market places. ”

S&P noted that the minimal financial risk profile is and strong business risks are solid. The rating action also assumes that the search, mobile ads, and display markets will continue to see healthy growth over the long-term.

Stocks do not usually react much to a credit rating upgrade and Google is in such good shape that its rating change will by and large not get to help it any time in the near future. The reason is that Google doesn’t need to raise capital. At least that is our assumption. Still, shares are up 3.2% at $667.84 against a 52-week range of $556.52 to $774.38.

JON C. OGG

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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