George Mannes
Investors are about to find out if Google GOOG can deliver on Yahoo!'s YHOO promise. A week after Yahoo! reported strong third-quarter numbers, shares in Google have continued their skyward trajectory -- thanks in part to Yahoo!'s comments about the state of the paid-search business. Now the question is whether Google's stock price -- up 5% over the past week, while Yahoo! has been flat -- can find support from whatever Google's tight-lipped management will say in reporting third-quarter results late Thursday. "You head into Google's report knowing Yahoo! had a good quarter," says Schwab SoundView analyst Jordan Rohan. "I think it's likely Google will show very strong international growth and a respectable performance domestically." Rohan has an outperform rating on Google and a Street-high $180 price target. On Wednesday, Google's shares were trading at $144.29 -- down $3.65 for the day, but up 70% from the $85 offering price at which the search engine operator's stock went public two months ago.
Organic Lopchu
Google, which will be reporting its quarterly results as a public company for the first time, poses a challenge for forecasters. While the company has supplied relatively detailed information about its sales and costs, its executives have indicated they don't plan to supply estimates to investors; their willingness to chat about current business trends remains to be seen. The stock's fortunes have been boosted by a relatively small amount of freely tradeable shares, along with news that mutual fund players Fidelity and Legg Mason have taken major stakes. Google's climb has not only inspired less-than-positive ratings on the stock, but also led analysts to reconsider those outlooks. On Tuesday, for example, American Technology Research's Mark Mahaney -- who downgraded Google from a hold to a sell on valuation issues earlier this month -- reiterated his sell rating on Google, though he qualified it somewhat: "As we wrote in our YHOO earnings review," noted Mahaney, "those results gave us, at the margin, less conviction in this call."The cable operator is set to go private after big holder Cox Enterprises ups the ante.
Yahoo! is among the most searched stocks on TheStreet.com. Here's what Cramer had to say about the stock recently.
Catch up on his thinking on the hottest topics of the past week.
Investors will have to deal with a Fed meeting and another flood of earnings and economic data.
Ensco International and Echelon have the potential to move higher in coming days.
See who made what calls.
The addition of video is helping telecom companies compete against cable and satellite companies.
The June West Texas Intermediate contract reflects selling pressure ahead of Tuesday's expiration. But stocks in the sector are generally trading higher.
See who made what calls.
Keep on top of the market and the critical information you need to make more profitable investing decisions.
Sponsored by:



