Web search giant Google saw its profits leap 46%

Google profits beat expectations

Google has seen its shares surge above $600 Web search giant Google saw its profits leap 46% in the third quarter, beating expectations as it gains market share. The firm saw profits for the three months to the end of September hit $1.07bn (£523.4m) up from 733.4m for the same period a year earlier. The latest rise comes after Google saw profits for the second quarter miss forecasts - which has only occurred twice in just over three years. Google shares recently breached the $600 mark, rising $100 over four weeks. The firm's shares ended at $639.62 on Thursday, but in after-hours trading the stock reached $642.20 - marking a rise of just over $6 or 1%. The company's revenue reached $3.01bn for the quarter, after commissions for advertising partners. Derek Brown, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald said: "It seemed like yet another strong quarter for the company, with very healthy revenue growth and strong profitability on top of that." "We are very pleased with the impressive growth we experienced across our business," said chief executive Eric Schmidt. "Our core search advertising business experienced continued momentum driven by growth in monetization and traffic," he said.