Yahoo Shares Rise After Earnings Beat, Verizon Deal To Close In 2Q

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Yahoo released its latest earnings reports after closing bell tonight, posting adjusted earnings of 25 cents per share on $1.47 billion in GAAP revenue. Analysts had been expecting adjusted earnings of 21 cents per share and $1.38 billion in revenue. In the previous year’s fourth quarter, Yahoo posted adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share and $1.27 billion in revenue.

Yahoo swings to a profit

GAAP earnings amounted to 17 cents per share. Yahoo posted a GAAP loss of $4.70 per share in the fourth quarter of 2015 due to a $4.5 billion impairment charge. This year, analysts were looking for 11 cents per share in GAAP earnings and $908 million in revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs. Revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs amounted to $1 billion in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $324 million from $215 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Mobile revenue rose to $459 million from $291 million a year ago, while desktop revenue edged upward to $955 million from $931 million the year previously. GAAP search revenue rose to $767 million from $528 million in the year-ago quarter.

Yahoo also said it expects the Verizon deal to close in the second quarter. The company had previously expected it to close in the first quarter, but more work has to be completed in order to meet the closing conditions.

SEC said to probe Yahoo’s hack disclosure

Also today, Dow Jones Newswires reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investing whether Yahoo should have disclosed the two huge data breaches to investors earlier than it did. The news outlet cites unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Regulators reportedly requested documents last month to determine whether Yahoo complied with laws relating to civil liberties. The SEC requires that cyber-security risks be disclosed as soon as they are considered to impact investors. Dow Jones’ sources said the probe will likely focus on the 2014 breach that affected at least 500 million users. That breach was not disclosed until September 2016, and Yahoo hasn’t said why it took two years to disclose it.

Shares of Yahoo rose by as much as 1.27% to $42.94 in after-hours trades.

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