Google CEO Larry Page apologized for a snafu with the company's earnings report on Thursday, an early leak of quarterly numbers that sent Google's stock price into steep decline.
Page told investors and analysts on the company's third quarter earnings call that he was "sorry for the scramble," and then went on to note the company's continued success despite what analysts perceived as a disappointing report.
Google reported a drop in profits, and even more troubling was a 15 percent decline in cost-per-click — the rate Google gets for each click on one of its ads.
Between that and the error with the report, which included the phrase "Pending Larry Quote," the stock dropped eight percent on Thursday.
However, Page kicked off the call by noting Google has cleared $14 billion in revenue — "not bad for a teenager," he said.
Also read: Google Stock Plummets After Premature Earnings Release
Page then pointed out the growth in Google's mobile monetization, as well as the hundreds of millions of Android users who will only further that growth.
As for the cost-per-click, Page blamed currency changes, and said that the drop would not have been as low with fixed currencies.
The Google co-founder was not on the last earnings call due to problems with his voice, an affliction that has sparked a wide range of rumors over the past several months. Page's voice still sounded frail on Thursday's call, though he described it as "hoarse."