Google = $217 Billion

Everyone knows Google and it doesn't take much brain power to figure out that this company is worth a lot of money. There has been much discussion in the past about various aspects of Google and you can bet that there were some discussions on the 10/31/2007 when Google's stock hit an incredible $700 a share.

This figure shows that Google's value has increased more than eight times since its initial public offering three years ago. Of course the company founders' insistence on not splitting its stock has also led to that incredible figure for a single share. The most interesting number of all isn't however the share price mentioned above. This interesting number represents Google's market capitalization which means the value of all of its shares combined. Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider has made a little calculation concerning Google's market capitalization that with the $20 jump in Google's stock in the last couple of days means that its market value is now about $217 billion. This figure makes Google the fifth most valuable company in the US at present.

In order to make a general impression, it is best to know that the most valuable are companies such as Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Microsoft, and AT&T, which hold the first 4 top spots. The 217 billion market value means that Google is now worth more than companies like Procter & Gamble, Bank of America and Citigroup. But you should also know that Google is, of course, a lot smaller than the companies it surpassed. Procter & Gamble is a perfect example, because it has nearly eight times the revenue and three times the profit that Google has. But then again, Google is growing a lot faster.
Almost incredible is the fact the Google's price-to-earnings ratio of 55 is considered to be "not preposterous" by Mr. Blodget, because as much as investors keep bidding up the share price the company responds by earning as much money as that required to bring each new dream back into the not-preposterous range.