Yahoo Yodel More and More Like a Wail, These Days
by John Paczkowski
Posted on July 22, 2008 at 1:55 PM PT
It was supposed to be Yahoo’s big turnaround day, but like so much in the company’s recent history, it fell woefully short. After market close Tuesday, Yahoo posted second-quarter earnings that fell shy of already lowered estimates.
Analysts hadn’t been expecting much, and Yahoo (YHOO) gave them even less. It underpromised and underdelivered.
Net income for the quarter fell to $131 million, or nine cents a share, from $161 million, or 11 cents a share. Analysts had predicted earnings of 10 cents a share, and $1.38 billion in net revenue. “Yahoo!’s transformation gained momentum in the second quarter as we announced new product initiatives and partnerships along with solid financial results,” said Yahoo president Sue Decker, presumably with a straight face. ” … We remain confident that our efforts will lead to a
stronger and more profitable Yahoo!. Notwithstanding a more difficult economic environment than anticipated, and substantial external swirl related to Microsoft, we are on track with our expectations for 2008, both financially and with respect to our customer offerings and product pipeline, which we expect to combine to drive shareholder return in 2009 and 2010.”
Substantial external swirl?
You can almost hear Carl Icahn rubbing his hands together, can’t you?
