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As expected, Yahoo pulled out all the stops to try and impress Wall Street with its first quarter earnings.
Just about any way you dice it, Yahoo saw an increase:
- Revenues were $1,818 million for the first quarter of 2008, a 9 percent increase compared to $1,672 million for the same period of 2007.
- Marketing services revenues were $1,572 million for the first quarter of 2008, a 7 percent increase compared to $1,469 million for the same period of 2007.
- Marketing services revenues from Owned and Operated sites were $966 million for the first quarter of 2008, an 18 percent increase compared to $820 million for the same period of 2007.
- Marketing services revenues from Affiliate sites were $606 million for the first quarter of 2008, a 7 percent decrease compared to $649 million for the same period of 2007.
- Fees revenues were $245 million for the first quarter of 2008, a 21 percent increase compared to $203 million for the same period of 2007.
What’s interesting is that unlike Google–which saw much of its revenue growth from international advertising–Yahoo saw its strength from the US.
- United States segment revenues for the first quarter of 2008 were $1,307 million, a 19 percent increase compared to $1,101 million for the same period of 2007.
- International segment revenues for the first quarter of 2008 were $510 million, an 11 percent decrease compared to $571 million for the same period of 2007.
According to Reuters, Yahoo came in on the high-end of expectations:
Excluding one-time items and stock compensation costs, the beleaguered Internet company reported a profit of $150 million, or 11 cents per share.
On that basis, Wall Street on average was looking for a profit of 9 cents per share, compared with 11 cents a share a year earlier…
The only problem? Yahoo’s stock is down in after-hours trading. Were investors hoping for a poor quarter so that Microsoft wouldn’t need to raise its offer? Does the after-hours drop suggest investors believe the deal will no longer happen?
