Google shareholders could be forgiven if they spend Valentine’s Day wondering where the love has gone.
Google shares lost 4.7% Monday, and have now shed 27%, or $130, from their all-time high of $475.11 set last month.
The selling began in earnest two weeks ago when the search giant missed Wall Street estimates, and it continued Monday after Barron’s said that competition from Yahoo and Microsoft
, rising costs and pricing pressures could restrain growth at the high-flyer.
Barron’s argued that Google shares could still have some distance to fall, in contrast to Wall Street analysts who have continually raised their price targets as the stock has climbed higher.
The sell-off in Google sent the Nasdaq to a 1% loss on Monday. The broader market also pulled back on inflation fears and uncertainty ahead of earnings reports from HP and Dell
and new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s first congressional testimony.
The Nasdaq lost 22 to 2239, the S&P 500 fell 4 to 1262, and the Dow gave back 27 to 10,892. Volume declined to 1.85 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.69 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 20-12 on the NYSE, and 19-10 edge on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 65% on the NYSE, and 74% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 67-43 on the NYSE, and 73-31 on the Nasdaq.
Agilent lost 4% on its results.
Research in Motion lost ground on possible competition from Microsoft
.
Opsware gained 10% on a deal with Cisco
.
