Earnings Preview: Google investors expect details on Motorola strategy

Google (GOOG) is expected to report Q2 earnings after the market close on Thursday, July 19, with a conference call scheduled for 4:30 pm ET. The consensus estimate is $10.04 for EPS and sales minus TAC, or traffic acquisition costs, are expected to hit $8.41B, according to First Call. Google is expected to report double-digit gains in both revenue and earnings for Q2. This will be its first period of results from its acquisition of Motorola Mobility -- and as such the consensus estimates may not be indicative of actual results. Investor concern about trends in the company's core advertising business and its acquisition of Motorola have sent Google shares down about 7% since its last earnings report. Google should report separate financials for its traditional ad business and Motorola's Mobile and Home businesses. A question facing the company is the status of CEO Larry Page, who did not speak at the company's annual shareholder meeting or its I/O developers conference last month. Also, Google previously said Page would also not do the earnings call this evening. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research note that Google could miss Wall Street forecasts on both revenue and profit "given difficulties in Europe and currency headwind." In its Q1 report, Google said its cost-per-click rate, or CPCs, a metric representing what advertisers are willing to pay for an ad, declined 12%. While the company saw increased mobile ad views, it said advertisers weren't willing to pay as much for those ads. "We currently expect CPCs to be down 17% year-over-year in Q2," writes Munster. Investors will be watching for commentary on what Google's plans are for Motorola: specifically whether management plans to cull Motorola's Android handset product line to focus on a fewer smartphones and what future Motorola's current legacy handset business has at the company.