Way to friggin’ go, Carol! Yahoo’s fourth quarter revenues were lower than a year ago, but they beat the high bound of the company’s outlook forecast range, leading to a $119 million profit as opposed to last year’s $278 million loss.
Display ads were up 26%, the biggest gain since 2006. Search ads went up 8%, primarily because of improved targeting algorithms, the company claimed. But Bartz reminded listeners that Yahoo’s real competition is TV, where brand advertisers still do their biggest spending. Yahoo’s answer to this isn’t to run TV-like ads, it’s to create original video content with advertisers.
Employee headcount grew by about 300, marking an end for now to repeated rounds of layoffs.
And remember, the advertising deal with Microsoft has yet to result in either side paying the other yet. Things won’t kick into gear until next year.
Here are the relevant stats from the earnings report:
Revenues were $1,732 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, which exceeded the top end of the Company’s business outlook range.
Revenues decreased 4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and increased 10 percent from the third quarter of 2009.
Revenues were $6,460 million for 2009, a decrease of 10 percent compared to 2008. Excluding the impact of currency rate fluctuations and divested business lines, revenues for 2009 would have declined 6 percent compared to 2008.
Income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $119 million, compared to a loss of $278 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Net income per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $0.11, including charges of $0.04 per share related to the Microsoft search agreement and restructuring charges. For fourth quarter of 2008, net loss per diluted share was $0.22, including a charge of $0.39 per share primarily related to a goodwill impairment.
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