If only you bought Google stock in 2004 when it made its first public offering. Shares were $85 back then -- not exactly cheap -- but a bargain compared to Google's latest share price: $1,000.
According to The New York Times, Google is one of the few members of the $1,000 club, a destination with seemingly no set directions other than success. Two other members are surprisingly unrelated. One is Priceline, which helps book online travel. The other is Seaboard, a turkey and hog processing operation.
The $1,000 mark was announced Thursday after shares jumped 13 percent from last quarter, according to The Times. The rapid increase represented another instance of Google surpassing the projections of Wall Street, The Times reported.
One of the keys to Google's success is its focus on mobile ads over more traditional (and more saturated) computer ads, The Times reported. Though this type of marketing yields fewer dollars per ad, the expansion of the mobile market has made it an explosive money maker. Analysts remain optimistic about Google stock because mobile advertising is expected to continue to grow, even as the price of ads is expected to decrease.
Google has tried being more specific in its marketing by catering ads towards the user's location and past preferences. Of course, the practice has been criticized by privacy groups, The Times reported.
Until this point, Google stock had been steady for most of the year, following the general trends of Nasdaq and equaling the performance of Microsoft. Yahoo, however, had been performing better than both entities until it turned in earnings below projections this quarter.
"I have no problem with the stock (Google) showing some life," Jordan Rohan, an Internet analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, said.
