Google Inc. (GOOG) Q4 2013 Earnings Report: Search Giant Posts Lower EPS On Higher Revenue Than Wall Street Expected

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced Thursday its earnings report for the fourth quarter and 2013 fiscal year. Earnings per share, or EPS, was up to $12.01 on $16.86 billion in revenue, more than the $10.65 in the year-earlier period. Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters Eikon were expecting EPS of $12.26 on revenue of $16.75 billion in revenue.

Google posted profits of $4.10 billion in the fourth quarter, up 15 percent over $3.57 billion from the same period in 2012. The search giant continues to offset a slowing decrease in cost-per-clicks with an increase in paid clicks, as it adjusts to a growing mobile and tablet market and slowing PC sales, its core business.

Google’s ad revenue increased, as paid clicks increased 31 percent during 2013, up 13 percent in the fourth quarter. The average cost-per-click, or CPC, decreased 2 percent during Q4, slowing a decline pattern that saw an 8 percent drop in the previous quarter.

Motorola Mobility earnings decreased in the fourth quarter, from $1.15 billion to $1.51 billion in the same period of 2012.