Yahoo Revenue Declines for 13th Straight Quarter
One-time Internet powerhouse Yahoo posted its fourth-quarter results Tuesday, continuing a now 4-year slump in revenue as it continues to lose ground in market share in the online advertising space. The long streak of disappointing performances prompted the firm to fire CEO Carol Bartz in September, replacing her with PayPal executive Scott Thompson several weeks ago. Thompson is Yahoo’s fourth chief executive in less than five years, and has been charged with turning around a company whose stock has fallen more than 50 percent in the last four years.
In the three months ended December 30th, Yahoo’s earnings came in at $296 million, or 24 cents a share, down 5 percent from 2010’s final three months, when the company posted earnings of $312 million, although per share earnings were unchanged due to there being less outstanding shares. Revenue for the period, meanwhile, fell 13 percent from a year ago to $1.32 billion, or $1.17 billion after subtracting advertising commissions. It’s the 13th consecutive quarter in which the company’s revenue has fallen on a year-to-year basis. Yahoo’s earnings matched the consensus estimate of analysts in a recent Bloomberg survey, but revenue missed by about $20 million.
While Thompson said that it’s still too early to disclose specific details for his plan to revive Yahoo, he did say that some Yahoo services will be closed, which could lead to layoffs at the company. During the fourth quarter, Yahoo added about 300 employees, giving it a payroll of about 14,000 workers at quarter’s end. Thompson also indicated he would expand Yahoo’s operations into several areas where he believes it could make money, though he did not offer any details on which industries he has his eyes on.
