Yahoo's Q3 earnings at $1.2 bn exceed expectations

Yahoo's Q3 financial results published today, revealed $1.2 billion in GAAP revenue. In a press release CEO Marissa Mayer stated, ''Yahoo! had a solid third quarter, and we are encouraged by the stabilisation in search and display revenue.'' Overall, the reported numbers were higher than expected in the first full quarter under Yahoo's new CEO.

According projections of Wall Street analysts, the company's EPS would be $0.26, and it's revenue would be $1.08 billion. The actual numbers however, exceeded this, clocking in at $0.35 earnings per share, and $1.2 billion in revenue, which came as a slight drop from the last quarter's revenue of $1.22 billion. The company grossed $1.217 billion in Q3 of 2011.

Mayer added, the company was taking important steps to position Yahoo! for long-term success, something it had demonstrated in recent years. Presently, the company has a workforce 12,000 strong, which was 12 per cent lower than the 13,700 of last year. Tech Crunch said, the company bought back $190 million in shares in this quarter.

Additionally, Yahoo! made $2.8 billion in Alibaba share sales, and $16 million in restructuring charges, which made the GAAP EPS $2.64, versus $0.35. Yahoo did not factor in this revenue, stating it was ''not meaningful', but overall the company's revenue was still low, based on operational income.

In a conference call with analysts Mayer said the job was tailor-made for her. She said she came to Yahoo to grow and redefine the company.

Investors buoyed by the financial news and the CEO's remarks, pushed shares up 4.6 per cent in after-hours trading. The former Google executive called for improvements to Yahoo Web destinations, search, social efforts and mobile, to pull in more advertising dollars.