IT investors on Thursday got hit with a tsunami of earnings reports for the quarter ending in December. Google's report was by far the most uplifting.

Google reported sales for the quarter of US$4.22 billion, an increase of 24 percent from the same period a year earlier. The figure exceeded analysts' consensus forecast of $4.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Google's net income was $382 million, or $1.21 per share, well below the $1.2 billion, or $3.79 per share, it reported a year earlier. However, on a pro-forma basis excluding one-time charges, earnings were $5.10 a share, up from $4.43 in the year-earlier period and well above the $4.95 pro-forma earnings analysts had forecast.

Google's good news aside, perhaps the most unsettling thing for IT investors about this earnings season is how many companies say they have little or no visibility into how business will go over the next few quarters. Even the few companies with positive reports this week expressed caution about the next few quarters.

"It's unclear how long the global downturn will last, but our focus remains on the long term," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement.