Google Shares Hit New Record Highs On Ad Gains

Shares of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine, set a new record high of $761.98 in early Tuesday trading on expectations gains in search, advertising and other services will propel earnings higher.

By midmorning, shares of the Mountain View, Calif., company had eased slightly to $760.74, up $11.36. Google shares have gained nearly 18 percent this year and 45 percent over the past 52 weeks, during which the company acquired Motorola Mobility Holdings, the smartphone maker, for $12.5 billion.

Research analysts at eMarketer Monday said they expect Google to overtake Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, as the No. 1 site for display advertising this year, with revenue increasing about 40 percent to $2.31 billion.

In the third quarter ending Sept. 30, analysts expect Google’s net income to jump about 8 percent to a record $3.45 billion, or $10.45 a share, from $3.18 billion, or $9.72, a year ago. Revenue is expected to leap 59 percent to $11.95 billion, according to analyst surveys compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Not all is rosy at Google headquarters, though.

Last month, the company agreed to pay a record $22.5 million to settle privacy invasion charges brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission; the company is also known to be under probe for possible antitrust violations by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the European Commission.

As well, Google said it would trim about 4,000 jobs from Motorola, about a third in the U.S., and may consider selling the set-top box business it acquired with the takeover.

Google is also doing well with its Android OS for smartphones, which is installed on units from Samsung Electronics (Seoul: 005930) and other leading smartphone makers that compete against Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, whose iOS powers iPhone 5 and earlier models.

Apple shares, which first breached the $700 mark on Sept. 18, have since fallen back from the $700.09 mark at which they closed Friday, the first day of iPhone 5 availability.

In Tuesday trading, Apple was at $691.09, down 30 cents. Apple shares have risen 71 percent in the past year.