Yahoo!’s flat Q2 performance gives Marissa Mayer something to work with

18 Jul 2012

Internet portal giant Yahoo! has reported second-quarter earnings of US$1.22bn, up 1pc on the previous year, affording it a flat operating profit of US$191m. While the picture isn’t perfect new CEO, ex-Googler Marissa Mayer, has at least a foundation to build upon rather than an entire burning platform.

On a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis, income from operations decreased 71pc to US$55m in the second quarter of 2012, compared to US$191m in the second quarter of 2011.

“In the second quarter, non-GAAP earnings per share exceeded consensus and both display and search revenue ex-TAC showed modest growth,” said Tim Morse, chief financial officer. “We also moved aggressively with new strategic agreements with Alibaba and Facebook and announced several new partnerships, including CNBC, Clear Channel and Spotify.”

This past quarter may be one Yahoo! would happily leave behind but in its results it aptly named former Google technology executive Mayer’s appointment as one of its business highlights.

Also included in the highlights was Yahoo!’s agreement with Facebook to bury the hatchet.

Collaborative deals with CNBC, Clear Channel, Spotify and the launch of new search platform Axis and an online advertising platform called Genome were also listed in highlights.

Not included in the highlights was the dismissal of previous CEO Scott Thompson in the aftermath of a scandal about alleged CV padding and interim CEO Ross Levinsohn taking the helm.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com