Back in May, Google brought in a new CFO, Ruth Porat, who is starting to open up to investors. Google has always kept as much of its business out of the public as it could. Some liked the idea Google had so many well kept secrets and it added to the mystery of the company in many ways. That all changed in 2004 when Google went public and became a publicly traded company. Now Google has to answer to its investors and the main goal of any publicly traded company is to make their stockholders money. When it comes to making money Google is a powerhouse at that with their stock price being $622.69 at the time of this article. That is a huge amount for any company and very close to their highest trading price and a great investment for anyone who spent $85 in 2004 when they went public.
In May Google acquired Ruth Porat who has started to open the doors to Google and shed some light to the investors in an effort to increase stock prices. Porat is scheduling monthly investor calls which are being called “Office Hours”. Now these calls are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and new ground breaking information cannot be shared, but Google can talk about projects and information they have already made public.
The new Office Hours project has already seen benefits and has received the praise of many big investment groups on Wall Street. Since Porat has joined Google and announced these new calls and its slow freeze on staying secretive, their stock price has raised 15% in the last three months, while the Nasdaq overall has dropped 8%. That is big news for Google, Porat, and all their investors. These calls give Google the forum to remind investors what has already been announced publicly but target their bottom line either now or possible future effects. For instance, Google recently reminded Wall Street about their lower legal costs in the early part of this year. Porat has given Google a way to make more money by holding a simple 15-30 minute call and they are already seeing the return.