Google Misses Consensus EPS Estimates; Revs In-Line; Stock Down 14% in Late Trading (GOOG)

Google (ticker: GOOG) reported Q4 2005 earnings results that missed consensus EPS estimates. Key stats from the quarter (note: a transcript of today's conference call will be available after the call at SeekingAlpha.com):

Q4 Results:

Revenue rose 86% y-o-y to $1.919 billion.

Excluding TAC (traffic acquisition costs) of $629 million GOOG revenue in-line with consensus revenue estimate of $1.29 billion.

GAAP operating income of $570 million or 29.7% of revenues compared to $529 million or 33.5% of revenues in Q3.

Non-GAAP operating income of $718 million or 37.4% of revenues compared to $596 million or 37.8% of revenues in Q3.

GAAP net income of $372 million compared to $381 million in Q3.

Non-GAAP net income of $469 million compared to $437 million in Q3.

GAAP EPS of $1.22 vs $1.32 in Q3.

Non-GAAP EPS of $1.54 vs $1.51 in Q3, and below consensus estimate of $1.76.

Note from Google Press Release:

Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter increased to 41.8% this quarter, and to 31.6% for the year, above our previously announced expectation of approximately 30% for the year. Primarily because the proportion of total expenses allocated to our international operations was greater than we anticipated, more of our profits were taxed at a higher domestic tax rate; this resulted in a greater effective tax rate compared to our expectations. We expect our effective tax rate for 2006 to be approximately 30%.

Conference Call Details:

Time: 4:30 PM ET / 1:30 PM PT

Webcast: Click here

Full Google (GOOG) Conference Call Transcript:

Available HERE (SeekingAlpha.com) TONIGHT a few hours after the end of the call.