Google's Earning Miss, an Opportunity For You?

As I came home today and turned on my favorite channel (CNBC) I first beheld the DOW closing above, or more exactly at 14,000, and thought "uhm, how bullish", my next observation was not as promising, as I watched the GOOG ticker followed by a red 39.40.
My heart dropped. I immediately checked the Dow Jones News to find out why my favorite stock was taking a 7% dip after hours.
As I remember, there was a couple of things that scared investors last quarter, one being the fear of rising expenses, and the other, the fear Google could not grow it's revenues fast enough anymore to justify this kind of PE. These two worries seem to have been put to rest for the time being, as traffic acquisition costs declined to 30% from 31%, and revenue came in for the quarter at $2.72 billion when analyst were expecting $2.68 billion.
Unfortunately, earnings came in at $3.56 a share compare to the expected $3.59, but since we are used to see Google's earnings beat the street expectations like a pinata, investor disappointment is high.
Time has taught us that any dip in price for Google share is usually a buying opportunity, but if CEO Eric E. Schmidt doesn't turn his recent acquisitions into earnings this company is going to have a hard time growing at the speed they have been in the past few years.

Financials, Goldman Sachs

This week were are expecting some big financial names to release their earnings. Goldman Sachs tomorrow morning, Lehman Brothers on Wednesday, and Bear Stearns Co. on Thursday, both of them before markets open also.
While GS beat earning expectations last quarter the stock is now 10% from it's highs at about the same level as it was on its last earnings release. So the stock looks like a bargain, specially when you look at the PE and PEG compare to the industry(10.4, 0.7 to 18.2 and 1.4). It looks to me as the stock should double before it would reach average valuations. So what's keeping this stock from taking off? Guidance, I imagine.
Analyst only expect $21.15 EPS for 07 compared to 06's $19.69. That's only 7.41% earnings growth, could that be true? After 06 75.55% earnings growth and 5 year growth rate of 35.75%? I must be missing something.
If you see anything out there that could qualify as a big red flag, please let me know. Meanwhile I'm going to unlock some funds and start a very small position.
Good luck out there!

Volcom Reports Quarterly Earnings

Volcom Inc.'s (VLCM) fourth-quarter net income rose 6.7% to $7.63 million, or 31 cents a share, from $7.15 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier.
The Costa Mesa, Calif., sportswear designer said revenue increased 37% to $56.6 million from $41.2 million a year ago.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted fourth-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share and revenue of $54.8 million.
Volcom expects first-quarter earnings of 15 cents to 16 cents and revenue of $48 million to $49 million.
Analysts predict first-quarter earnings of 19 cents a share and revenue of $51.2 million.
-Monica M. Clark; 201-938-5400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com > Dow Jones Newswires
02-22-07 1704ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Volcom beat analyst's estimate for this quarter but announced lower than expected guidance for the first quarter of 07, although the guidance for the year was on the high end of the analyst's expectations. The stock is currently up a little over 8% for the day after the quarterly numbers produced mixed emotions after the closing bell yesterday (down 2%).
I still think Volcom's approach to the market is right, by sticking to their traditions and what have made them successful in the past they are securing long term growth.

The market has been good to me this earning season, long live the market!

Google's Quaterly Earnings Report

As I am writing this Google stock is having a bad day. It is down 2.76% with >x2 average volume, and it's just past the first hour of trading. After the earnings report yesterday, which came in with exceptional numbers as far as income ($3.29 EPS) was overshadowed by a slightly lower than expected profit margin. Google spending habits are growing faster than their earnings. How horrible!
Meanwhile the other concern is that Google is a one trick pony, making money only from advertising (much better than anyone else, kind of like their products).
Now I remember reading somewhere that one of the type of spending Google is doing was on developing new products to create new revenue streams.
Am I the only one seeing this? They are taking care of the "one revenue stream" problem by increasing capital spending. Shouldn't this be praised? Shouldn't this type of behavior be encouraged? Or is wall street so used to Companies ignoring a problem until the very last minute, and more than often, too late, that when one companies takes control of their future way ahead of time, they have to be negative about it? For doing something positive too early?
It's not doubt to me that Google is ahead of its time, their mission statement says it all. It must be the only one out of the thousands and thousands of traded companies, which do not contain the world "maximum profits for investors" in it. The way they treat their employees should be a model for everyone. The way they treat their customers should be a model for everyone. The Google model works, plain and simple, and if you trust it, it will reward you.