Investors had a lot to digest late Wednesday on top of an already eventful day: Google reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street estimates, and Dell announced that Michael Dell is returning as CEO.

Google reported earnings of $3.29 a share on a 73% jump in sales after traffic acquisition costs to $2.23 billion. But with some analysts expecting Google to report even higher sales, the stock sold off 2% in late trading.

"Our impressive performance in the fourth quarter demonstrates the continuing strength of our business model across Google properties and those of our partners," CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement. "Our growing organization allows us to deliver ever increasing amounts of information and content to our users both through investments in search and ads as well as through strategic partnerships."

Google CFO George Reyes said on the company's conference call that Google will continue to spend significantly on technology and other investments to expand its market share.

Also late Wednesday, Dell dismissed CEO Kevin Rollins and warned that its quarterly results will come in below analysts' estimates, but Dell shares surged 5% in after-hours trading as traders cheered the return of the company's founder.

Full story: internetnews.com