Yahoo reports on-track earnings in third quarter

Despite some upheaval following the sudden departure of former chief executive Carol Bartz and the resurrection of Microsoft buy-out rumors, Yahoo managed to deliver some good news for the third quarter of 2011 on Tuesday.

Yahoo reported third-quarter net earnings of $293m (£185m), or 23 cents a share (statement). Non-GAAP earnings were 21 cents a share on revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs of $1.072bn — a five-percent decrease from the third quarter of 2010. Wall Street analysts were looking for earnings of 17 cents a share on revenue of $1.07bn.

Chief financial officer and interim CEO Tim Morse summed up the quarter in a statement: "We're pleased that revenue, operating income and EPS were all above consensus this quarter."

Former Yahoo boss Carol Bartz left her post in September.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Yahoo's outlook raised; delivers sliver of good news on ZDNet.com.