NEW YORK — Google plummeted almost $80 per share, more than 10 percent, and trading in the stock was halted for 2½ hours Thursday after a disappointing earnings report was published ahead of schedule and surprised investors.
Bleak figures in the report about online advertising dragged down Facebook stock, too, and the Nasdaq composite index skidded 1 percent on a day when the broader stock market was mostly flat.
Google was trading at $754 per share at 12:30 p.m. EDT, then fell almost $20 in a minute after investors saw the report, a draft. It dropped as low as $676, and Google halted trading at 12:50 p.m., with the stock at $687.
The stock was halted until 3:20 p.m. Companies routinely halt trading when they have news to release to investors during the market day, but 2½ hours is an unusually long suspension.
When trading in Google resumed, the stock climbed slightly, but it still finished down $60.49, or 8 percent, at $695.
Google blamed a printing company, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, for filing its quarterly statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission more than three hours ahead of schedule.
R.R. Donnelley & Sons stock also plunged — as much as 71 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $10.14 — after the mistake. It later recovered most of the loss and ended the day down 9 cents.
The Google report said it earned $2.18 billion from July through September, down from $2.73 billion in the same period a year ago.
It is a warning sign for Facebook, which is trying to figure out how to make money off advertising on mobile devices.
Facebook stock declined 90 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $18.98, with most of the loss coming after Google’s earnings report. The company went public in May at $38, but it has fallen as low as $17.55, in part because of investor concerns about ads.
“Google and Facebook are very reliant on online ads,” said Scott Kessler, head of technology- sector equity research at S&P Capital IQ, a research firm. “So if Google’s results indicate a lack of demand and growth, that’s obviously a worry for Facebook.”
The broader market fared better: The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 8.06 points, or 0.06 percent, at 13,548.94. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 3.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,457.34. The Nasdaq was down 31.26 to 3072.87.
The broader market is “waiting for a clear catalyst,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial.
“We basically know what happened in the last quarter,” Krosby said. “What we’re looking for is what’s next.”
