Yahoo! Reports Profitable First Quarter Results
Company Posts $30.2 Million in Revenues and $4,285,000 in Net Income
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - April 8, 1998 - Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) today
reported revenues totaling $30,206,000 for the first quarter ended March 31,
1998, a 20 percent increase over revenues of $25,105,000 reported in the
fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 1997 and a 200 percent increase over the
comparable period in the previous year. Net income for the first quarter
was $4,285,000 or $0.08 per share diluted, compared to a pro forma net
income of $2,574,000 or $0.05 per share diluted in the fourth quarter ended
Dec. 31, 1997 (fourth quarter pro forma net income excludes the one-time
charge of $3,850,000 incurred in connection with the acquisition of Four11
Corporation) and a net loss of $740,000 or $0.02 per share diluted for the
comparable period in the previous year.
Yahoo! also announced that traffic on the Yahoo! global network of
properties increased to an average of 95 million page views per day during
the month of March 1998, compared to an average of 65 million page views per
day in December 1997. Yahoo! Japan, which is included in the above page
view totals, increased to an average of approximately 7 million page views
per day during the month of March 1998 from an average of approximately 5
million per day in December 1997. A page view is defined as one electronic
page of information displayed in response to a user request.
Yahoo! continues to have the largest audience of any Web site or online
service with more than 30 million unique, adult users during March in the
United States alone. Yahoo! today also announced it has more than 12 million
unique registered users, reflecting the number of people who have submitted
personal data for Yahoo!'s universal registration process. These registered
members now have access to My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Pager, Yahoo!
Chat, Message Boards, Stock Portfolios, Yahoo! Classifieds and Yahoo! Games.
As a result of its growing audience base and popularity, Yahoo! is ranked
No. 1 in reach among all Web sites with work users (49 percent) and is
second only to AOL among home users (43 percent), according to Media Metrix
(February 1998).
"We continued to experience strong growth in both user traffic and the
number of Yahoo! registered members during the quarter," said Tim Koogle,
president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!. "From the beginning, our
intent has been to create the only place in the world that anyone would have
to go to find, and get connected to, anything or anybody. Having executed
on this over time, Yahoo! has proven to be a powerful distribution platform
for a wide range of content, merchant, communication and community services
partners. We will continue to focus on building our strong, trusted brand,
delivering quality content and services, and aggressively growing our global
audience as well as our advertising and commerce revenue."
Shopping
Yahoo! expanded its shopping services during the quarter with several new
premier merchants. Egghead.com and Tech Wave joined Yahoo!'s premier
merchant program, providing Yahoo! users with convenient access to computer
hardware and software products. CDnow expanded its agreement with Yahoo! to
become the premier music retailer in Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo!'s music chat
rooms. E-Loan, InsWeb, Intuit, and Quick & Reilly joined Yahoo! Finance to
provide loan, insurance, income tax, and online stock transaction resources,
respectively. IDT is now providing Yahoo! users with the ability to make
computer-to-telephone calls. Also, cybermeals joined Yahoo! to provide
local take-out and delivery service from restaurants nationwide. During the
quarter, Yahoo! expanded its product and price comparison shopping service
to additional popular categories in the Visa Shopping Guide by Yahoo!
including apparel, computer software and printers, general merchandise,
gifts, movies and outdoor equipment. In addition, Yahoo! unveiled the
Yahoo! Platinum Visa card, combining a low annual APR of 9.99 percent, no
annual fee, an online rewards program, protection against unauthorized use
and an easy way to access and manage one's account online.
Programming
Yahoo! continued to expand its programming during the quarter. The company
enhanced its popular Yahoo! Finance site with the introduction of the Loan
Center, a resource for researching, pre-qualifying and applying for home
loans; the Tax Center, featuring resources, advice, forms and information
for filing 1997 income tax returns; and the Insurance Center, a
comprehensive resource for auto, life, health and homeowners/renters
insurance. Yahoo! also introduced Yahoo! Seniors' Guide, providing targeted
content sites, interactive features and a special chat area for this large
and growing audience. The company launched Yahoo! TV Coverage, a
comprehensive nationwide television resource with TV listings personalized
to the users' local area and interests, TV-related content and Web sites,
events and chat. Yahoo! Games debuted during the quarter, enabling users to
play free Java-based games with others connected to the Internet. In the
sports arena, Yahoo! provided full coverage of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games
in Nagano in seven languages.
Communication Services
During the first quarter, Yahoo! enhanced its comprehensive suite of
communication services for Web users. The company introduced Yahoo! Pager,
an instant messaging feature enabling members to instantly link to others
and communicate one-on-one in real time. Yahoo! also gave its users the
ability to place telephone calls through the Internet, saving up to 95
percent on long-distance calls using IDT's Net2Phone service. During the
quarter, Yahoo! and Time Inc. New Media launched a new Yahoo! Chat arena
featuring celebrity and expert chats conducted by People, Time, Money and
ParentTime.
Expanding Audience
In the first quarter, Yahoo! extended its brand, services and distribution
both online and offline. The company entered a co-marketing distribution
agreement with MCI and launched Yahoo! Online powered by MCI Internet, a
comprehensive easy-to-use online service providing an alternative for
individuals wanting access to the Internet from home.
International Growth
Along with Yahoo!'s growth in the U.S., its international network of
properties outside the U.S. has experienced strong growth in recent months.
Yahoo! Korea (www.yahoo.co.kr), the newest of Yahoo!'s sites in Asia, has
already reached approximately one million page views per day since being
launched in September 1997. In Europe, Yahoo!'s U.K./Ireland site
(www.yahoo.co.uk) was recently ranked the most popular among all U.K. Web
sites with three times more traffic than the next closest site (New Media
Age, February 1998). Yahoo! Deutschland (www.yahoo.de) is ranked No. 1 in
reach (44.5 percent) and is the most regularly used navigational guide on
the Internet in Germany (GfK Online Monitor, February 1998). Yahoo! France
(www.yahoo.fr) is ranked No. 1 in reach among all Web sites in France, with
55.3 percent of all Internet users using the site in a one-week period
(Etude Motivaction Online, January 1998).
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is a global Internet media company that offers a
network of branded Web programming serving millions of users daily. As the
first navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the single largest
guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach,
and is one of the most recognized brands associated with the Internet.
Yahoo! Inc. provides targeted Internet resources and communications services
for a broad range of audiences, based on demographic, key-subject and
geographic interests. Yahoo! is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.
This announcement contains forward looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties, including those relating to the company's ability to grow its
user and advertiser base, and advertising and commerce revenues. Actual
results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported
results should not be considered an indication of future performance. The
potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the company's
limited operating history, the increasingly competitive environment for Web
services and advertising sales, the early stage of the Web as an advertising
medium, and the company's dependence on advertising revenues and third
parties for technology, content and distribution. More information about
potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial
results is included in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended Dec. 31, 1997, including (without limitation) under the captions,
"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations," "Risk Factors," "Competition" and "Proprietary Rights," which
is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.
Contacts:
Gary Valenzuela
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yahoo! Inc.
(408) 731-3350
investor_relations@yahoo-inc.com
Diane Hunt
Director, Corporate Communications
Yahoo! Inc.
(408) 731-3441
diane@yahoo-inc.com |
