This search engine just revved up — and set a few records for the history books.
Shares of Google soared to an all-time high Friday in the biggest-ever single-day stock gain, solidifying the tech giant’s status as the world’s second-most valuable company.
The Mountain View, Calif., search giant delivered better-than-expected sales and profits late Thursday, sparking a rally that sent the stock soaring 16 percent to close at $672.93 after briefly topping $700 earlier in the day for the first time ever.
Google added a staggering $65 billion to its market value — a sum greater than the individual worth of storied firms like MetLife, Lockheed Martin, Colgate-Palmolive, Dow Chemical and Ford Motor.
The single-day, blowout session left Google’s market value at $465 billion, bringing it closer to No. 1-ranked Apple, valued at $743 billion. Google meanwhile extended its lead over No. 3 Microsoft, valued at $375 billion.
That, in turn, helped pad the personal finances of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. With each owning Google stakes equal to more than 6 percent of the company, the duo saw their personal fortunes leap by more than $4 billion apiece on Friday.
That’s more than the entire fortune amassed by tech tycoon Reid Hoffman, an original member of the “PayPal mafia” who is also co-founder of LinkedIn.
For comparison’s sake, $4 billion is also larger than the combined fortunes of “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, fashion magnate Tory Burch, hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Google cheered investors by saying prices were going up on mobile ads, whose profitability has been a key concern. Google was also upbeat about its YouTube division, which faces a video-streaming threat from Facebook.
New financial chief Ruth Porat, who joined from Morgan Stanley, said she’ll keep a lid on costs as she considers what to do with Google’s growing cash pile, which swelled to $69.8 billion in the second quarter.
“Google hasn’t delivered a quarter like this in a long time,” JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth said.
