Yahoo reports first-quarter earnings that beat expectations

A man walks by Yahoo's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

By Andrea Chang

April 17, 2012 2:25 PM PT

Troubled Yahoo Inc. had a bit of good news Tuesday, reporting first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s estimates despite revenue that was essentially flat.

For the three months ended March 31, the online search company said profit rose 28% to $286 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with $223 million, or 17 cents, in the same year-earlier period. Income from operations decreased 11% to $169 million.

Revenue, meanwhile, increased 1% to $1.2 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of 17 cents and revenue of $1.06 billion.

Yahoo has been working to emerge from a lengthy slump. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company has seen declining online ad revenue and stiff competition from rivals Google and Facebook. This month, the company decided to slash 2,000 employees, or 14% of its workforce -- the deepest cuts in its 18-year history.

Yahoo also announced a new leadership structure that organizes the company into three main groups: Consumer, Technology and Regions.

New Chief Executive Scott Thompson said the changes to resize and restructure the company would “quickly deliver the best user and advertiser experiences at scale” by bringing resources closer.

Yahoo reported its earnings after the markets closed. During regular trading, shares rose 23 cents, or 1.5%, to $15.01. The company’s stock climbed 2% in after-hours trading.

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