Google's third-quarter results trounced Wall Street expectations as good cost controls helped boost the internet search leader's profit by about 26 per cent.
Shares of Google were up roughly 6 per cent at $592.43 in after-hours trading today.
Google said its net income in the three months ended September 30th grew to $2.73 billion from $2.17 billion in the same period a year ago.
Excluding certain items, Google said it earned $9.72 per share in the third quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were expecting adjusted EPS of $8.74.
Google, which faces increasing competition from social networking giant Facebook, said on Thursday that it had signed up more than 40 million users for its recently launched Google+ social network.
Google said its third-quarter net revenue, which excludes fees that Google shares with partner websites, increased 37 percent year-on-year to $7.51 billion. Analysts were looking for $7.22 billion in net revenue.
Reuters