14 DAY TRIAL // Yahoo reported $1.2 billion (€878 million) in net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013, which is slightly less than what the company made the year before. The fact that the revenue declined for the fourth quarter in a row didn’t sit right with investors and shares dropped following the announcement.
While the results may not be stellar, they’re still better than how Yahoo was doing some years back and the share prices alone have nearly doubled in a single year.
Most of the gain can be tracked back to the rising value of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, where Yahoo owns a 24% stake. As everyone expects Alibaba to hold an initial public offering this year, Yahoo is also benefitting from all the excitement.
Yahoo has also reported that it has lost ground in the US display advertising market, continuing a five-year trend where Google and Facebook keep growing. In 2013, Yahoo claimed 5.8 percent of the market, down from the 6.8 percent in 2012. Revenue from display ads fell 6 percent year over the year.
On the bright side, however, Yahoo’s profit managed to rise to $348.2 million (€254.8 million), from $272.3 million (€199.2 million) the year before.
The company has $5 billion (€3.66 billion) in cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable securities.
Ever since Marissa Mayer took the lead at the company, in 2012, the company has gone through a bunch of changes. One of her big plans has been to make Yahoo relevant again for the younger audience, to make things interesting again.
For the most part, she has succeeded in her plans – most Yahoo pages have been revamped, there’s more content and the company’s main services have undergone significant changes. Despite all her efforts, however, Yahoo still needs time to get itself back on its feet and to its former glory.