Google (GOOG) this afternoon reported Q3 revenue and earnings per share well ahead of expectations.
Revenue in the three months ended in September rose 33%, year over year, to $7.51 billion, yielding EPS of $9.72, driven by “paid click” growth of 28%.
Analysts had been modeling $7.22 billion and $8.74 per share.
Google said its “cost per click” also rose, by 5%, year over year, though it was down 5% from Q2′s level.
CEO Larry Page called it a “great quarter,” and noted that Google’s social networking offering, Google+, had surpassed 40 million users. “People are flocking into Google+ at an incredible rate and we are just getting started!” said Page.
Google’s traffic acquisition cost rose 22%, year over year, though it declined as a percentage of revenue to 24% from 26% a year earlier. “Other cost of revenues” came in at 12% of revenue versus 10% a year earlier.
The company’s adjusted operating income was 37% of revenue in the quarter, down from the year-earlier rate of 40%. Operating expenses rose as a percentage of revenue, now 34% versus 30% a year earlier.
Google’s revenue from its owned sites rose 39%, year over year, while its Adwords revenue from partner sites rose 18%.
Google shares are up $33.16, or 6%, at $591.
Google produced $3.27 billion in free cash flow in the quarter, after capital expenditures of $680 million, leaving the company with $42.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and securities.
Google will host a conference call with analysts at 4:30 pm, Eastern, and you can listen to it here.
Update: During the conference call, management said that over 190 million devices had been activated worldwide using its “! Android” operating system software.
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