eric-schmidt.jpgGoogle on Thursday beat Wall Street estimates in its third quarter, posting a profit of $1.07 billion, or $3.38 a share, on sales of more than $4.23 billion.

Profit rose from $733.3 million a year earlier, while sales rose 57 percent to $4.23 billion.

Google, the Internet search giant, said strong performance in its core search and advertising business propelled revenues, excluding commissions paid to advertising partners, to $3.01 billion. Profit, excluding certain items like stock-based compensation, was $1.24 billion, or $3.91 a share.

Analysts expected Google to report revenue, excluding commissions to marketing partners, of $2.94 billion, and income, excluding expenses like stock-based compensation, of $3.78 a share.

The financial results follow a period in which Google’s shares have risen sharply, to an all-time high of $641.41 a week ago, as many investors expect the company’s core online advertising business to remain strong. Investors also believe that one or more of Google’s many new initiatives, which range from mobile phone software to television and radio ad sales, software applications and online video ads, will soon begin to contribute more significantly to the company’s growth.

Google's revenue from outside the United States was $2.03 billion, or 48 percent of total revenue of $4.23 billion.

Google led the U.S. Web search business with a 57 percent market share in September, up from 56.5 percent in August, according to comScore Inc. It is even more dominant globally, with more than 70 percent of the audience for Web searches.