Google shares fell as much as 11% on Thursday after a
disappointing earnings report was prematurely released to the public.
Google shares fell as low as $676 per share on Thursday,
down $79.49 each, or 11% , before rallying slightly to finish the day down 8%
($60.49 per share) to close at $695 each.
The culprit was a disappointing earnings report -- net
income in the third quarter was down 20.3%, while a revenue rise of 18.6% to
$11.5 billion fell short of analyst expectations. A draft of the report was
released on the Securities and Exchange Commission website by RR Donnelley around
midday, hours before its intended release at 4:30 p.m. after market close. As a
result of the decline, trading in Google stock was halted, resuming at 3:20
p.m.
In a statement, RR Donnelley said it was "fully engaged" in
an investigation to determine how the leak took place.
Later, on a conference call with analysts to discuss the
quarterly results, Google CEO Larry Page apologized for the mix-up, adding that
he was pleased with the company's performance.
