Yahoo Sees Revenue, Profit Gains

Yahoo reported higher profits in the third quarter as a result of the sale of HotJobs and a boost in display advertising, but the web portal's revenue forecast for the current quarter fell below Wall Street expectations.

Yahoo said Tuesday revenue rose 2% in the quarter ended Sept. 30 to $1.6 billion from $1.58 billion the same period a year ago. Profits increased to $396 million, or 29 cents a share, from $186 million, or 13 cents a share, a year ago. Profits in the third quarter were helped by the sale of the HotJobs jobs listing service, which resulted in a gain of 13 cents a share.

Yahoo's revenue was in line with the company's July forecast of between $1.57 billion and $1.65 billion. Yahoo beat Wall Street estimates of $1.13 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

"We've made substantial progress this year toward executing our strategies for enhancing profitability and resuming revenue growth," Carol Bartz, president and chief executive of Yahoo, said in a statement.

Yahoo's bright spot on the sales front was display advertising on its own sites, which increased 17% from a year ago. Most of Yahoo search has been turned over to Microsoft in a long-term partnership in which the two companies will share ad revenue.

Nevertheless, Yahoo's revenue forecast for the fourth quarter fell below expectations. The company said revenue would be in the range of $1.13 billion and $1.23 billion, which was less than Wall Street estimates of $1.26 billion.

Yahoo, which is struggling to remain relevant as a web destination as people flock to Google and Facebook, is reportedly being considered as a takeover target by a consortium of investors that would include AOL. Quoting unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal said this month that talks were very preliminary.

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