NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Investors will have to wait a little longer for Google after the SEC said the company's IPO registration was not declared effective by the close of business Tuesday.
An SEC official would not say why the agency hasn't signed off on Google's plans for its initial public offering.
Google said Monday it had hoped the agency would clear the way for its IPO by late Tuesday, so it could set a price for its shares shortly thereafter. That led to speculation that the price would be announced Tuesday and the stock would start trading Wednesday.
But now it appears that the earliest the stock price could be set is Wednesday morning, assuming that the SEC gives the final go ahead by then.
Google did not return a call seeking comment.
One analyst following Google's stock offering said investors should not read anything into the latest delay, but a lawyer specializing in IPOs said the delay may indicate a problem.
"There's nothing that mandates the SEC had to comply with the request in the timetable expected by Google," said Scott Kessler, an equity analyst with Standard & Poor's.
Kessler added that the SEC may just simply be taking extra care in going through the details of approval since the offering was being so widely scrutinized.
"There is a lot of pressure on the SEC to ensure that this process is in full compliance with all governing rules and regulations. As high profile as this offering is, it puts a substantial onus on the SEC, so that's why it might be taking more time than expected," he said.
But David Walek, a lawyer with Ropes & Gray who has handled numerous IPOs, said the delay may spell trouble for Google.
"It almost inevitably means that there is some issue that has the SEC staff's attention, but what that is is impossible to guess," Walek told Reuters news agency.
The setback is the latest in a series of strange twists and turns in the IPO process for the No. 1 Internet search engine, which filed to go public in April.
At the time, Wall Street raved about the company's leading position in the hot market for search-based advertising and marveled at its sales in the last few years. But in recent months, the enthusiasm waned.
At least one investor was taking the delay in stride.
"We have always had to be patient, and we will just have to wait one more day,'' Barry Randall, a technology fund manager at U.S. Bancorp Asset Management, which is bidding for Google shares, told Reuters.
There was a fair amount of confusion surrounding the controversial Dutch auction process the company chose to sell its shares. Google has also warned that it may have violated securities laws by failing to properly register shares and options it awarded to current and former employees.
In addition, Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., is going public when investors are worried about a possible slowdown in tech spending in the second half of the year. Internet stocks in particular have been hit hard due to concerns about their heady valuations.
Google is hoping to sell up to 29.6 million of its 271.2 million shares outstanding in the offering. Once the company begins trading, it will do under the ticker symbol GOOG on the Nasdaq.
The company established a preliminary price range of $108 to $135 a share for the stock last month.
David Garrity, an Internet stock analyst with Caris & Co., said he was getting the sense the stock would price at the low end of that range.
Analysts quoted in this story are not bidding for shares of Google and their firms are not participating in the auction process, unless noted. From staff and wire reports
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