Microsoft’s CFO became famous in the 1990s for his predictions that the company would not grow as quickly as others wished. looks like George Reyes, CFO of Google, is taking a cue. Hey, wait, is this managing expectations on Wall Street, and providing guidance? Whatever it is, GOOG is taking a hit. From a sub required WSJ article:
Google Inc.’s chief financial officer, George Reyes, said the Internet giant’s growth is slowing due to the “law of large numbers” and it will need to find new ways to boost revenue.
The comments, made at an investor conference, surprised Wall Street and triggered a selloff in Google’s shares. In heavy trading, Google shares fell 9%, or $37.70, to $354 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The company’s 18-month effort to boost search monetization by tweaking the advertising system has realized most of the gains possible, Mr. Reyes said. Now growth is being driven mainly by organic factors, like query traffic growth, which he called substantial.
“We’re going to have to find other ways to monetize the business,” Mr. Reyes told attendees of a Merrill Lynch investor conference.