Yahoo Is Expected to Beat Earnings Forecasts

Internet wonder Yahoo Inc. is expected to beat the expectations of analysts when it reports its first-quarter earnings today. The No. 1 Internet directory said last week that it would buy Dallas-based Broadcast.com Inc., the No. 1 distributor of audio and video programs via the Web, for $6 billion in stock. Yahoo stock has risen 22% in the last five days.

Yahoo, considered to be a bellwether for Internet stocks, is expected to earn 8 cents a share in the first quarter, according to the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. “I expect them to modestly beat consensus,” Lise Buyer, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, told Bloomberg News. She expects the company to earn 9 cents a share and its revenue to be $81.5 million.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo has exceeded forecasts by a least a penny a share for 11 consecutive quarters.