Adieu Yahoo!

Photo Credit:Piutus/Flickr.com

After 21 years of being listed on the stock exchange, Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) recently announced the results for its last quarter as a public company. Once the jewel of the Internet, Yahoo’s story is a remarkable one that proves how continuous mismanagement and lack of focus can drive a company to its demise. Over the past decade, Yahoo has struggled with shrinking revenues and its inability to keep pace with the evolving technology landscape.

Yahoo’s Financials

For the first quarter of the year, Yahoo’s revenues fell 3% to $833.8 million, ahead of the market’s forecast of $812 million. On a gross basis, revenues increased 22% to $1.33 billion. EPS of $0.18 was also ahead of the Street’s forecast of $0.14 for the quarter.

By segment, gross revenues for Yahoo’s MAVEN (mobile, video, native and social) segment increased 36% to $529 million. The MAVEN business now accounts for 42% of the quarter’s revenues compared with 38% a year ago. Non-MAVEN revenues grew 15% to $742 million.

Yahoo’s gross search revenues fell 3% over the year to $799 million with the number of paid clicks reducing 12% over the year. Price-per-Click increased 10% over the year. Search revenues excluding TAC were down 12% over the year. Display revenue fell 2% over the quarter to $456 million despite a 2% increase in the number of ads sold. Display revenue excluding TAC was up 5% over the year.

Yahoo’s Expansion

Meanwhile, during the quarter, Yahoo continued to show small signs of improvement. It has doubled the number of users enrolled in Yahoo Account Key in the quarter. These users will find it simpler to sign into their Yahoo accounts using their mobile phone. It has also updated the Yahoo Answers Now service by adding new engagement features like social sharing, question of the day, and notification controls.

As part of its mobile initiative, Yahoo has launched Captain, which is a mobile bot assistant that helps users manage lists and reminders. It can also coordinate family or group activities.