Google Stock Tops $600 A Share

Shares of Google (GOOG) gained $15.57 yesterday to close at $609.62 a share, as the Internet titan surpassed another milestone with its first close above $600 per share. Om Malik notes that this brings Google's market capitalization to more than $188 billion, which is enough to buy 3,133 Gulfstream G550 jets a $60 million a pop.

That $188 billion stock valuation is enough to buy a lot of companies, and gives Google the financial strength to continue building huge data centers. This year Google has announced data center projects in Lenoir, North Carolina; Goose Creek, South Carolina, Pryor, Oklahoma and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Google expects to spend $600 million in each location for $2.4 billion in data center investments. But that's small change compared to Google's total market capitalization. With $188 billion, Google could build 313 of its $600 million data center projects, with 626 facilities. Not that they would. But it's clear that Google's infrastructure ambitions won't be cramped by its liquidity or stock price.