Google’s third-quarter earnings fall 5% on higher expenses

Google Inc.’s third-quarter earnings slipped 5% on higher expenses and as the Internet search leader absorbed a charge covering a mobile patent.

The results announced Thursday fell below analyst estimates, triggering a nearly 3% decline in Google’s stock price in extended trading.

Google Inc. earned $2.81 billion, or $4.09 a share, for the three months that ended in September, compared with net income of $2.97 billion, or $4.38, in the same period last year.

The earnings for the latest quarter were dragged down by a $378-million charge tied to patent royalties that Google acquired when it bought Motorola Mobility in 2012. Google is now in the process of selling Motorola to Lenovo Group in a deal expected to close by the end of this year.

If not for the charge and other one-time items, Google said it would have earned $6.35 per share. That figure missed the analyst target of $6.46 per share among analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

The Mountain View, Calif., company posted revenue of $16.5 billion, a 20% increase from last year. But Google’s operating expenses, excluding costs for employee stock compensation, surged 30% as the company added nearly 3,000 employees during the quarter.

After subtracting Google’s ad commissions, revenue stood at $13.2 billion, in line with analyst projections.

Google’s shares, which closed down $5.52, or 1%, at $524.21, shed $15.13 to $509.38 in extended trading. The stock has fallen 4% this year.