Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is one that is a bit hard to call right before earnings because shares just bounced after coming off of new highs so hard. The change is likely to flux in the display ad market, but that comes and goes.
With display advertising having been soft for a month or more, the drop in the last week from $670 down to $625 should have tempered some of the very bullish expectations that had been building even with a $10 bounce since Wednesday morning.
Thomson Reuters has estimates of $10.49 EPS and $8.41 billion in sales. Be advised that some earnings estimates are up around $10.75 and also recall that the revenue is an ex-TAC figure (ex Traffic Acquisition Costs, or what it pays out to publishers and advertising sites for a revenue split).
The Motorola acquisition integration continues and Google continues to command a larger and larger share of video efforts.
The chart analysis shows that the 50-day moving average held up just fine, and that current reading is $619.35. That would be considered hard support right now. The problem is that if the price breaks under that, then there may be nothing but dead air down to somewhere between $580 and $600. The 200-day moving average is $562.24.
Google’s consensus mean price target from Thomson Reuters is just over $725.00 and the current options pricing (options expire tomorrow) is factoring in a move of only about $17.00 to $20.00 today.
JON C. OGG
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