Yahoo Punches Back at Critics with Strong Third Quarter

Marissa-MayerYahoo has posted strong results for Q3 2014, finally breaking the pattern of declining revenues, exceeding the expectations of Wall Street and going some way to silence critics of CEO Marissa Mayers strategies.

Mobile revenue, which the company has struggled with in the past, exceeded $200m (£124m) for the quarter, and is expected to top $1.2bn for the full year. Between Yahoo and its Tumblr unit, the company boasted 550m monthly users on mobile devices during the quarter, a 17 per cent year-on-year increase.

Overall revenues were $1.09bn for Q3, excluding traffic acquisition costs, up 1 per cent year-on-year. While it didnt demonstrate huge growth, stopping the decline was enough to boast Yahoos profile, and the companys stock rose 3 per cent in after-hours trading.

Display revenue dropped 5 per cent compared to Q3 2013, down to $447m, but search increased 4 per cent to $452m. While the number of ads sold increased by 24 per cent year-on-year, price per ad dropped approximately the same amount, as has been seen across the industry.

“We had a good, solid third quarter,” said Mayer. “We delivered $1.094bn in revenue ex-TAC and $1.148bn in GAAP revenue. We achieved this revenue growth through strong growth in our new areas of investment – mobile, social, native and video – despite industry headwinds in some of our large, legacy businesses.

“We have invested deeply in mobile and we are seeing those investments pay off. Not only are our mobile products attracting praise and engagement from users and industry awards, they are generating meaningful revenue for Yahoo.”