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Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

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Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#61

Post by brudgers »

frogpelt wrote: post #33

I have to say I don't understand companies that have very little in the way of tangible assets being valued higher than companies that have mounds of tangible assets. For instance, Exxon-Mobil has $347 billion in tangible assets while most of Google's value comes from its brain trust and the vision of its leadership. The same could be said of Apple though they do have $40 billion in cash. In other words, if both comp…

If Google disappeared this weekend, we'd wake up Monday morning and our Android phones would still work, a few people would miss Play and the worst part would be listening to people complain about Bing search and everyone else's maps.

If Exxon disappeared I'd be in line at the pump filling up gas cans in addition to the tank and on my way to stockpile canned goods, potable water. and buckshot.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#62

Post by nostromo »

martythemaniak wrote: post #6

I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but I think Google still has a long way to grow. I can easily see them as the first trillion dollar company and well beyond that. I think they understand the process of re-inventing themselves better than any other tech company. They acquire a lot of companies, some of which continue to grow and change the very nature of Google itself (example Android). They also understand Black…

My gut agrees. But I'm still wondering what their next hit is.

Despite a million products, they're still a one-hit-wonder in terms of revenue.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#63

Post by skriticos2 »

throwaway_yy2Di wrote: post #48

Yet it's so small : XOM ('12) GOOG ('13) Revenue $453 B/a $60 B/a Profit $45 B/a $13 B/a Market cap $393 B $394 B https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil (101 for anyone who doesn't know this: revenue is how much you sell, profit is what's left over for shareholders, market cap is how much shareholders think that profit stream is worth). Relevant: check out wikipedia's rankings o…

Hm, applying a bit of my personal sense, I'd say Exxon's business is drying up in the foreseeable future (oil is running out, renewable energy is on the rise).

Google is a software business with very strong network effects.

I definitely see how there is more demand for software in 100 years than for oil (as a fuel).

Economics is not a pure numbers game. They [edit: the numbers] just try abstract what the companies do now and in the future.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#64

Post by 3pt14159 »

brudgers wrote: post #32

Whoopdee shit. If Exxon and Google were both liquidated today which one would produce more cash? Google share prices reflect a speculator's premium. Exxon's better reflect the value of the underlying assets.

Exxon is sitting on a resource that will soon be replaced with a more efficient one: electricity. It is much, much, much cheaper to produce electricity in coal or nuclear plants and charge cars to run on the road than it is to refine gasoline and pump it into cars.

Google is sitting on top of the most amount of information ever collected by any profit-seeking organization ever.

Skate where the pucks going man.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#65

Post by ForHackernews »

raldi wrote: post #29
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Single seller - Google commands 2/3 of search engine volume [1] and 1/3 of online advertising [2]. Yes, they have competition, but in several verticals they are the only practical choice. Note that this does not make them an abusive monopoly, which is what those characteristics seem to be describing more than a monopoly per se . [1] http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2289560/Googles-Search-... [2] http://www.bloomb…

In which verticals is Google the only practical choice?

Search engine marketing, for one.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#66

Post by hayksaakian »

throwaway_yy2Di wrote: post #48

Yet it's so small : XOM ('12) GOOG ('13) Revenue $453 B/a $60 B/a Profit $45 B/a $13 B/a Market cap $393 B $394 B https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil (101 for anyone who doesn't know this: revenue is how much you sell, profit is what's left over for shareholders, market cap is how much shareholders think that profit stream is worth). Relevant: check out wikipedia's rankings o…

We often ridicule tech companies for having inflated valuations. I don't disagree with this in general.

In your specific comparison, which company do you genuinely think will grow more over the next N years? Google has shown the ability to dominate multiple markets time after time.

I can't see Exxon as any more than an oil company. There's certainly nothing stopping them (any more than any other business) from innovating.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#67

Post by brudgers »

encoderer wrote: post #46
frogpelt wrote: post #33

I have to say I don't understand companies that have very little in the way of tangible assets being valued higher than companies that have mounds of tangible assets. For instance, Exxon-Mobil has $347 billion in tangible assets while most of Google's value comes from its brain trust and the vision of its leadership. The same could be said of Apple though they do have $40 billion in cash. In other words, if both comp…

Google also has a pile of cash. And a fiber optic network. And millions of square feet of data center space. Exxon: Assets: $350bn Liabilities: $75bn Apple: Assets: $225bn Liabilities: $53bn Google: Assets: $110bn Liabilities: $15bn If you're trying to value a stock on fundamentals alone, you should take these tangible assets (as you call them), back them out of the market cap. Then look at what kind of P/E multiple…

I can also envision Google being targeted by regulators and tax agencies and law makers around the globe in the next ten years. In addition their business model is vulnerable as open access networking becomes less advantageous to more businesses and it becomes increasingly feasible to inject advertising locally or strip off Google's customer's ads and replace them at the ISP level.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#68

Post by Simp »

brudgers wrote: post #32

Whoopdee shit. If Exxon and Google were both liquidated today which one would produce more cash? Google share prices reflect a speculator's premium. Exxon's better reflect the value of the underlying assets.

>If Exxon and Google were both liquidated today

Well, that's exactly it, isn't it? Google has more potential for the future than Exxon.

Re: Google Passes Exxon to Become Second-Most Valuable U.S. Company

#69

Post by jmathai »

wlesieutre wrote: post #55
guelo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the thing about Apple, they have $165 billion but they have no idea what to do with it. The only R&D they seem to be able to think of is how to make their consumer boxes shinier. No moonshots, no diversification. That's why Wall Street doesn't see any huge upside.

Says someone with no more insight than the rest of us on what's going on internally at Apple. Recent hires and job postings suggest that they're angling for the wearable electronics market, and I would bet they'll be years ahead of the Pebble of Galaxy Gear when they do announce something. Would people prefer that they be like Google, with piles and piles of R&D projects that go public, get users, and are shorty aban…

  I honestly wish they'd never bought Grand Central, 
  at least it would have improved in the last several years.
Or more likely Grand Central would have been acquired by someone else or shut down.

I was a Grand Central user and while Google Voice hasn't lived up to all my hopes and dreams it's a pretty kick-ass service.

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