It’s been five years since their last major stock market milestone but Google share prices have finally topped $800. When compared to the trajectory of the share price leading up to 2007, this journey from $700 to $800 may seem like a long and leisurely saunter, but when you consider that the recession took hold soon after the $700 peak – initially causing the share price to plummet below $400 – for it to not only recover but smash through $800 is a hell of a feat.
Most of the growth has occurred since Larry Page took over from Eric Schmidt as CEO in April 2011, suggesting the company’s in an extremely safe pair of hands with its young (still only 39!) co-founder. And certainly advertising statistics seem to reflect that, with over 40% of all digital advertising revenue in the US during 2012 going to the search giant.
So where do they go from here? Well with the Google grip on the search market as firm as ever, their recent moves to more effectively monetise mobile and rumours that they’ll be hitting the highstreet in 2013 to promote their growing range of hardware, the future looks extremely bright for Google, and investors will no doubt be wondering if the $1000 target may soon be in sight.
Dan
