Search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) announced on October 12 that its third-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, reflecting a continued boom in online advertising. The Sunnyvale, California-based company said that it earned $253.3 million, or 17 cents per share, for the three months ended in September 2004, up from net income of $65.3 million, or 5 cents per share, at the same time in 2003. Revenue for the period totalled $906.7 million, a dramatic increase from $356.8 million in 2003.
The third-quarter profit included a $191 million pre-tax windfall that Yahoo reaped by selling part of its stake in search engine rival Google Inc. (www.google.com), which completed a closely followed initial public offering in August. If not for the Google gain and a tax benefit, Yahoo said, it would have earned 9 cents per share, matching the mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
