Yahoo! (NASDAQ:
YHOO
) impressed investors when it reported third-quarter results
Monday afternoon,
a report that added three percent
to the company's shares. Revenues came in at $1.089 billion,
mirroring the consensus
among analysts, which expected Yahoo to post a gain over its 3Q
2011 results. The company reiterated new hires, which included
Henrique de Castro (
COO
) and Ken Goldman (CFO). Yahoo also spoke about its success in
closing the initial stage of its share repurchase agreement with
Alibaba. The firm received pre-tax proceeds valued at $7.6
billion ($6.3 billion in cash and $800 million in preferred
shares, along with a payment of $550 million related to a
technology and intellectual property license agreement). Yahoo
also announced its plans to return 85 percent of net cash
proceeds to shareholders, amounting to $3.65 billion. Some of
that money has already been returned; Yahoo has given back $646
million since the agreement was announced earlier in 2012.
While shareholder value was a big part of Yahoo's earnings
release, it was not the only talking point. The company also
announced that during the 2012 London Olympic Games, Yahoo's Web
properties garnered more than three billion page views. That's
more than the combined page views that Yahoo received during both
the 2008 Summer Beijing and 2010 Winter Vancouver Games.
The Presidential Election has also had a positive effect on
Yahoo's website. During the first two weeks of the political
conventions, the site's "election-related experiences" received
45 percent more page views than in 2008.
In discussing the future, the company did not yet detail the
plans of its
planned acquisitions
. Instead, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer
spoke vaguely
about the firm's M&A goals.
"The size and scale that is comfortable for a great
integration, a great product coming out of it, is something that
is much more in the size and scale of double-digit millions and
low hundreds of millions," Mayer said.
Mayer also said that she is
committed
to taking Yahoo back to its roots as a consumer internet company
that's "focused on [the] user experience."
The
mobile
user, that is.
"Our top priority is a focused, coherent mobile strategy,"
Mayer
announced
. "The way we all consume content has dramatically shifted."
Further, Mayer said that she is "encouraged by the
stabilization in search and display revenue."
"We're taking important steps to position Yahoo for long-term
success, and we're confident that our focus on quality and
improving the user experience will drive increased value for our
advertisers, partners and shareholders," she said in a
company release
.
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