What is Google Finance?

Why doesn't TEF have the same P/E ratio quoted on Yahoo and Google finance?

• There's a huge difference between Google's (https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:TEF) and Yahoo's (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TEF) stated P/E ratio, 4.78 and 24.8, respectively. I'm guessing that even if one has a more updated earnings report the difference couldn't be this large....could it?

• Answer:

  Not exactly clear, but a) I think Yahoo actually reports a P/E of 14.22 b) If you pull up the most recent 6-K on edgar http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/814052/000095012311098039/c24644e6vk.htm You get 9 month earnings of 0.60 Euro and 9 month "underlying" earnings of 1.20 Euro. "Underlying earnings" are non-GAAP earnings that are more like operating earnings than earnings and if they don't tell you what the excluded items are, they are completely useless. I'm not going searching through edgar to find Q4 2010, so assume earnings are 0.80 Euro = $1.00/share. That puts P/E closer to 14 and more like 17 in my book. I suppose Q4 of 2010 could have been good enough to get it done to 14. c) It's possible Google is using underlying earnings instead of reported earnings or some non-GAAP foreign accounting. Why would anybody invest in anything based on some numbers posted on Yahoo or Google without checking them out first on Edgar? Yahoo and Google post crap all the time..