Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) announced fourth-quarter and full-year results after the closing bell. Fourth-quarter earnings per share of 15 cents came in above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents. The 15-cent earnings result does not account for a 4-cent charge that is related to the Microsoft search agreement and other charges.
Revenues of $1.73 billion slipped 4% on a year-over-year basis but topped the third-quarter total by 10%.
Management said the fourth quarter marked a strong finish to 2009, calling it a transformative year and noting that Yahoo beat the high end of its revenue guidance, saw improved demand for premium display advertising and grew Owned & Operated search advertising revenue sequentially for the first time since the third quarter of 2008.
Yahoo posted full-year earnings of 42 cents per share, surpassing earnings of 29 cents in 2008.
Analysts polled by Zacks are forecasting earnings of 47 cents per share for 2010, a 12% increase year-over-year. Shares of YHOO were up 0.82% for the day. During 2009, YHOO outperformed the S&P 500 by about 10%.
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