Yahoo ends Bartz's first year on up note

From CNET News.com: Yahoo continued to ease its way back to financial respectability in its fourth quarter, beating estimates from both itself and Wall Street despite a decline in revenue.

In a press release Tuesday, Yahoo said it took in $1.73 billion in revenue during its fourth quarter, down 4 percent from the same quarter last year but up 10 percent from the third quarter. That exceeds the high point ($1.7 billion) of the guidance range Yahoo provided after the third quarter, and revenue of $1.26 billion excluding traffic acquisition costs beat analyst estimates of $1.23 billion.

"Things seem to be returning to a more normal state in the online ad business," said CEO Carol Bartz during a conference call to discuss the company's results Tuesday. Although the totals are still off compared to last year, both search and display ad revenue on Yahoo sites increased from the third quarter to the fourth, as Yahoo's clients became more confident about their marketing budgets and more willing to spend on Yahoo's inventory, she said.

Fourth-quarter net income was $153 million despite the drop in revenue, compared to a loss of $303 million a year ago. Last year's net income number, however, was hurt by a one-time write-off of goodwill. Excluding charges, non-GAAP earnings per share actually fell, from 21 cents last year to 15 cents this year, although Wall Street was expecting just 11 cents in earnings per share this time around.

For the full 2009 fiscal year, Yahoo's first under Bartz, the company recorded $6.5 billion in revenue and net income of $598 million. Revenue was down 10 percent compared to 2008, but net income was up 43 percent.

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