Two years after a very public debacle about going public, Google is finding its feet on Wall Street. During that time, its shares have performed exceptionally well. The company's capitalization now
totals $118 billion. But ever since its bizarre Dutch-auction IPO, Google has been considered an outsider on the Street: a red-hot technology company with an obscure business model run by a troupe of
aloof geniuses. Analysts note that the company once dismissed as being "arrogant" is now winning over the skeptics. "It is not as if [Google is] spilling the family secrets today. It's just that it
doesn't feel, perhaps, as combative as it once was," says Derek Brown of Pacific Growth Equities on Google's reluctance to divulge information. "Yesterday, you came away from the [earnings] call
feeling like they offered a bit more insight into the business than you may have two years ago." The secretive approach was necessary for the company's initial growth, says Investor-Relations Director
Kim Jabal. "In the early days, the company was laser-focused on keeping the train on the track... As we grow, we are working on ways to carve out more time and attention for our investors, analysts
and shareholders." Still, very little is known about Google compared to large corporations. For a company that is so big and dynamic and important to the entire Internet economy, muses Brown, "there
is so little known about them. It's amazing."
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