Internet giant Google Inc.'s revenues took a big hit during the second quarter from foreign exchange.
The company reported that its second-quarter revenues of $17.7 billion would have been $1.1 billion higher without the currency impact.
Google's revenues were actually roughly $1.6 billion lower because of currency conversion, but that number was offset by $471 million in gains from the company's hedging program.
The second-quarter earnings call was the first led by Google's new chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, who took over the position from Patrick Pichette in May.
During the call, Ms. Porat, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker and finance chief, said that she would be "very engaged" with the sprawling tech company's many business unit heads to come up with a 2016 budget. The company's management has recently been criticized by analysts for its profligate spending, and Ms. Porat said that she expense discipline would be important, but revenue growth was the priority.
"That's not inconsistent with expense management," she added.
Google's capital expenditures fell to $2.5 billion during the quarter, down 14% from the prior quarter. But Ms. Porat said during the call that the past three months marked "a bit of a digestion period" for the company.
But, as The Wall Street Journal's live blog of the earnings call noted, Ms. Porat didn't commit to saying the company is on a long-term digestion period. She said the "cadence of spend" can vary, suggesting that expenses could ebb and flow in coming quarters.作者: 钢铁牛 时间: 2015-7-16 19:20
Analysts praised Porat liberally in their research notes this morning:
"New CFO delivers," Macquarie wrote. "... we thought Ruth's commentary was incrementally positive on top of mind issues," Barclays commented. "Dawn of a new era? Kinda feels like it," Deutsche Bank titled its research note on the earnings. Porat "did not disappoint," Goldman Sachs notes. "She focused on the matters that the market cares about the most, namely the ability to invest with discipline and what appears to be a more pragmatic outlook on its balance sheet."
Porat is one of Wall Street's own stars:
Before joining Google, she spent more than 20 years at Morgan Stanley, prompting Politico to laud her as "the most powerful woman on Wall Street."
Google's paying Porat $70 million in bonuses and grants, a number that seems paltry compared to the roughly $50 billion it added to its market cap after she delivered its earnings.