Yahoo Inc. fell short of Wall Street’s expectations for both earnings and revenue in its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005.
The Web portal saw revenue grow 39 percent to $1.501 billion, while net income rose to $683 million, or $0.46 per share, from $373 million or $0.25 per share, the Sunnyvale, California, company reported Tuesday.
Excluding the money that Yahoo pays to third-party affiliates of its online ad network, revenue grew 36 percent to $1.068 billion, short of the $1.070 billion consensus expectation from analysts polled by Thomson First Call. These third-party payments are commonly referred to as traffic acquisition costs (TACs).
Adjusted, or pro forma, net income, which excludes certain gains, losses and expenses, came in at $247 million, or $0.16 per share. Here, Yahoo also failed to meet analysts’ consensus expectation, which was for $0.17 per share. In 2004’s fourth quarter, pro forma net income was $187 million, or $0.13 per share.