Google adds $60 bn to its stock in one day

Google Inc just gave its investors the biggest present ever.

The search-engine giant added $65 billion to its market capitalisation today, more than the size of Hewlett-Packard Co. The surge, following earnings that topped analyst estimates, is the biggest one-day gain in value ever for a US company, according to data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Apple Inc. held the previous record, with a $46.4 billion surge in April 2012.

Google's rally pushed the Mountain View, California-based company further ahead of Microsoft Corp. in rankings of the world's biggest companies, sending its value to about $468 billion compared with the software giant's $377 billion. The shares are up 26 per cent in five days, the biggest one-week advance since it went public in 2004.

"This is a pretty decisive breakout to the stock after it's been range-bound for a while," said Walter Todd, who oversees about $1 billion, including Google shares, as chief investment officer for Greenwood Capital Associates LLC in Greenwood, South Carolina. "It's a good feeling. The move in market cap is just insane."

Apple remains the world's largest company at about $746 billion.

Google shares rose 16 per cent to a record $699.62 at 4 pm in New York, providing 39 points of the Nasdaq Composite Index's 47-point gain for the day.

Thursday's report marked the first time since 2013 that Google has announced quarterly adjusted earnings per share higher than expectations. Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, who joined the company in May, also signaled plans to bring more restraint to spending at the Internet search giant.