Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Scores a Knockout in Latest Quarter

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) soared past analysts' expectations in their latest quarter, as they handily beat revenue and earnings estimates.

CEO Eric Schmidt said, "Our strong performance has been driven by a rapidly growing digital economy, continuous product innovation that benefits both users and advertisers, and by the extraordinary momentum of our newer businesses, such as display and mobile. These results give us the optimism and confidence to invest heavily in future growth - investments that will benefit our users, Google and the wider web."

Earnings came in at $8.75 a share, soundly beating analysts' estimates of $8.09 a share. For revenue, analysts had been looking for $6.06 billion in the quarter, whereas Google generated 6.37 billion.

Their bread-and-butter paid clicks business rose by 18 percent, and Google's cost-per click rose by 4 percent. International revenue accounted for 52 percent of the total, reaching $4.38 billion.

Google closed the day at $626.77, losing $4.98, or 0.79 percent. In after hours trading, they were up by $9.23, or 1.47 percent, as of 4:14 PM EST, trading at $635.95.