Yahoo Profit Meets Forecasts, But Revenue Falls Short

Yahoo delivered quarterly earnings that met analysts' expectations, but revenue fell short of forecasts, and the company said revenue for the current quarter would also be shy of expectations.

Paul Sakuma / AP Yahoo!'s headquarters in California.

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The Internet search giant reported fourth-quarter earnings excluding items of 24 cents per share, unchanged from 24 cents per share a year ago.

Net income was $296 million, compared to $312 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue was $1.17 billion, down from $1.21 billion in the year-earlier period.

Analysts had expected the company to report earnings excluding items of 24 cents a share on $1.19 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

"Yahoo continued to make progress in the quarter with operating income increasing ten percent year over year," said Scott Thompson, Yahoo's CEO. "In 2012 we will be aligning resources behind key areas of focus to enable us to move aggressively in market and grow our business, bringing innovative new products and experiences to both our users and advertisers."

The company projected that its net revenue in the first quarter would range between $1.025 billion and $1.105 billion.

Yahoo's latest financial results show the Internet company is still losing ground in the battle for online advertising. The fourth-quarter breakdown is the latest in a succession of ho-hum performances.

It's the 13th straight quarter that Yahoo's net revenue has declined from the prior year.

Yahoo's earnings follows the recent departure of co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang, who started the company in 1995. Yang, who resigned from all positions within the company, had been under fire for his handling of company affairs.

Yang's decision came two weeks after the company appointed Thompson its new chief executive after searching for a replacement for Carol Bartz, who was fired in September.