"The Street" apparently doesn't think Google is intelligently spending its nearly $60 billion in cash reserves, because instead of buying stuff that couldn't possibly make it any MORE successful in the ad space, they are buying futuristic stuff like robotic and drone satellite companies. Dude, you make $60 billion -- then you get to decide what a smart spend is. Until then, shut the hell up.
Who else founded a company in 1998 and in about a decade and a half ginned up a $400 billion market cap, the second-biggest in America? The spill-prone oil company with the biggest market cap was started in 1882, a pretty nice runway.
I am not a big fan of Google's. I think they do plenty of evil. They have effectively blocked any competition for their core search business, and have the power to screw any other business (or entire industry category) by adjusting a numeral or a parenthesis to their famously secretive and ever-changing ranking algorithm. Between their cameras and user profiles, they undoubtedly have more accurate information on who you are and what you do than the NSA (who probably shows up like a neighbor asking for a cup of sugar now and again). But who among us doesn't kick him- or herself for not snapping up Google at its $85 a share IPO?
I don't have a crystal ball, so can't forecast if Google will be successful in the Internet of Things or drone businesses. But when you are sitting on $60 billion and adding another $12 or so billion every year, you can make some pretty spectacular mistakes and still come out smelling like a rose. Even if along the way "the Street" rubs its hands and arches its collective eyebrow.