Yahoo! Inc. Misses Earnings Estimates

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Yahoo released its latest earnings report after closing bell tonight, posting non-GAAP earnings of 15 cents per share on revenue of $1.043 billion. Analysts had been expecting the company to post adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share on $1.055 billion in revenue. In the same quarter a year ago, Yahoo reported earnings of 38 cents per share on $1.087 billion in revenue.

Key metrics in Yahoo’s earnings report

GAAP earnings were 2 cents per share, compared to last year’s 2 cents per share. Revenue including traffic acquisition costs was $1.226 billion, compared to last year’s $1.133 billion. Management said the increase in GAAP revenue was mostly due to improvements in search and display revenue. They also pointed out that this is the first time Yahoo has grown its first quarter display ad revenue since 2011.

Search volume increased to a five-year high during the first quarter, with the partnership with Mozilla being the main driver of that increase. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter fell from $306 million last year to $231 million this year.

Yahoo’s revenue by segment

Yahoo reported that revenue from its Mavens segment rose from $230 million last year to $363 million. Non-Mavens revenue fell from $802 million to $704 million. The company’s mobile revenue increased from $145 million to $234 million, while its PC revenue fell from $887 million last year to $873 million this year. Mobile revenue made up 14% of Yahoo’s traffic-driven revenue in the first quarter of 2014. That percentage widened to 21% in this year’s first quarter.

Gross search revenue rose 20% year over year to $956 million, while GAAP search revenue also increased 20%, climbing to $532 million. Search revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs was $432 million, a 3% decline. GAAP display revenue rose 2% to $464 million, while display revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs fell 7% to $381 million.

Yahoo increased the number of ads sold by 29% year over year. The price per ad fell by about 17% year over year. The company saw a 21% year over year increase in paid clicks and a 3% increase in price per click.

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