At the height of its glory in late 2007, Google (GOOG) was trading above $700 a share, was worth more than $225 billion and was about 30% bigger than Apple (AAPL).
Since then, Google's market value shrunk by roughly $40 billion, expenses and headcount have mushroomed, and the company has done little to diversify its income stream and reliance on search.
Today, Google is about half the size of Apple, and its stagnant stock is testing the patience of an increasing number of investors and analysts who are hungry to see its next big product. "Google has been a one-trick pony as far as earnings are concerned," says portfolio manager Michael Sansoterra of Silvant Capital Management. Like the rest of us, he is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the new Chromebook laptops that begin shipping today, and asking for a "show-me story."
In a marketplace dominated by $500 iPads, it remains to be seen if consumer demand for the comparably priced but lesser-equipped Chromebook, a device Sansoterra describes as "a tablet with a lid and a keyboard," will do anything to compete with tech giants like Apple. The iMac maker has a proven its "ability to innovate and grow their business," Sansoterra says.
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