Shares of Google Inc. rose as much as 20 percent on Friday, to trade at more than twice the level of its cut-price IPO, after the Web search leader posted strong quarterly results in its first reported quarter as a public company.

Google shares hit a high of $180.17, up 112 percent from when it went public just over two months ago at $85 a share -- the low end of a proposed range that had been as high as $135.And in a move that rekindled dot.com-era fervor, one broker said the stock could hit $200.

Mountain View, California-based Google has a track record of profitability and a clearly defined business model built around online advertising, unlike comparable stocks in the first generation of the Internet investment boom.

But amid the bulls on Wall Street, are a few contrarians who remain concerned that Google faces significant competition from companies like Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and its dependence on generating almost all of its revenue from a single source.

Big moves in Google's stock price also are closely tied to the small size of its float -- the percentage of its shares that are available for public trade -- relative to other richly valued Internet players like Yahoo or online marketplace eBay Inc.

"The limited float on this stock is a lot of the reason why you get days like this," said Janco Partners analyst Martin Pyykkonen, a veteran technology analyst who has one of the most conservative reads on Google.Google shares in afternoon trade were up $26.87 at $176.25 on Nasdaq.

TARGET -- $200

Prudential Equity Group analyst Mark Rowen repeated his "overweight" investment rating on Google and raised his price target for the stock to $200 from $130 on what he called "blowout" third-quarter results. The $200 target could be 12 to 18 months out, he said in a note to investors.

(From Reuters, October 22, 2004)

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