How high can Google go? Maybe $1,000
That's what several analysts are saying since the stock topped $800. But price prediction is never a sure thing. Just ask Apple.
This is what happens if your stock gets supremely expensive: Analysts announce the stock will get even more expensive. That's what's happening to Google (GOOG). The stock hit $806 a share on Tuesday. Analysts at Sanford Bernstein Research and CLSA promptly boosted their estimates to $1,000.
The milestone may indeed come, but the shares slipped Thursday, closing at $795.53.
Saying a stock will go to $1,000 is what analysts do. Last year many said Apple (AAPL) would top $1,000 after it moved over $700. Apple is now at $446 after a horrific decline of more than 36% since mid-September.
Plus, Google shares are showing signs of being overbought. They're trading at 18% above their 200-day moving average. And their relative strength index, a measure of momentum, is nearing 70, also an overbought signal.
Citing mass adoption of smart phones, tablets and the mobile web as a strong opportunity for Google, Bernstein's Carlos Kirjner focused on the fact that Google's search business was up more than 20% for the fourth quarter despite the declining number of searches from personal computers.
This would mean either YouTube or mobile search skyrocketed to compensate, Forbes.com's Jake L'Ecuyer noted. Either is good news for the company.
James Lee, an analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, expects a new Google advertising management system to drive mobile revenue.
"The purpose of this change is to simplify the ad-buying process in the multi-screen environment and increase the adoption of mobile search," Lee wrote. "The current system is segmented and complicated, barring less-sophisticated advertisers like local merchants from participating."
Make it simple and the money will come.
Deutsche Bank likes Google moving to $950. It sees big potential in:
- Google Fiber, the company’s experiment with broadband internet which offers a connection 100 times faster than current broadband providers.
- Its self driving car.
- Retail stores.
- A new line of touch screen laptops to compete with Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)
- Google Glass. This is the glasses-like gadget that lets you receive and send information.
Retail stores are probably the project that can come to fruition most quickly. The other projects will take time.
It is not clear how Google can get its fiber to the consumer without cutting a deal with local cable and telecommunications companies. Verizon Communications (VZ) pushed its FIOS fiber-optic system aggressively and pulled back when the costs became too expensive.
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