Google is officially part of the ultra-exclusive $1,000 club.
The search giant’s stock topped $1,000 a share on Friday for the first time in its history, making it one of only a select few businesses including Priceline, Seaboard and Berkshire Hathaway to hit that milestone.
The company’s stock had been hovering around the $900 mark in recent months, but the stock shot up by nearly 10% overnight — adding more than $25 billion to its market cap in a matter of hours — following a generally positive third-quarter earnings report, which beat Wall Street estimates for earnings and revenue.
Google’s stock has increased by more than $250 since the start of the year, helped by renewed investor optimism that the company has more breakthrough products up its sleeve, including self-driving cars, Google Glass and Google Fiber. In recent months, some analysts have expressed concerns about Google’s ability to maintain its ad rates on mobile, but the most recent earnings report suggested that Google is serving enough ads to offset any decrease in the cost-per-click on mobile.
While the $1,000 mark is certainly a significant milestone, it’s also unlikely to last. Google is moving towards a stock split that would create a new class of non-voting stock to ensure that the founders have control over the company’s direction. Assuming the company follows through on that plan, the price per share will go down significantly.
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