In its S1, Google claimed it was going to be different, in particular in how it provided information to the Street. But in this blog post (from last week, I’m a bit behind in my reading, clearly), it is reminding us that, well, sometimes it’s good to be like the other guys. Google reports its earnings this Thursday, a much anticipated news event. What’s new? Starting this past quarter, Google is going to start reporting its pro forma, non GAAP earnings.
Why?
Well, to be pretty brief, the earnings number looks better (by comparison to analyst figures) when you subtract accounting charges for things like stock based compensation, which was used as the example in the post. Wall St. analysts already do this as a matter of course, so Google has decided to do it too. I’m looking forward to grokking this earnings report. I sense it’s going to be an interesting one.