Google Inc. GOOG +3.51% on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit of $2.89 billion, or $8.62 a share, compared with a profit of $2.71 billion, or $8.22 a share, for the year-earlier period. On a non-GAAP basis, Google reported a profit of $10.65 a share for the recent quarter. Revenue minus traffic acquisition costs was $11.34 billion, up from $8.13 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters on average expected the Internet giant to report a profit of $10.47 a share, on revenue of $12.34 billion. Shares of Google were up more than 4% in after-hours trading. |