雅虎首季小幅增长，阿里巴巴功不可没

    雅虎（Yahoo）周二公布了2014年第一季度财报，结果略高于华尔街的预期。每股收益为38美分，营业收入10.87亿美元，比去年同期有小幅增长。

    分析师预计雅虎的每股收益为37美分，营业收入为10.8亿美元。雅虎股票在盘后交易中上涨了6%。

    雅虎第一季度的表现很大一部分要归功于中国电子商务公司阿里巴巴（Alibaba）。雅虎持有阿里巴巴24%的股份。阿里巴巴第四财季营收达到了30.6亿美元，同比增长了66%（净收入增长了110%）。

    雅虎的表现一如既往：虽然有阿里巴巴的支撑，但它自身的财务数据乏善可陈。而阿里巴巴计划在今年晚些时候上市。过去一年，雅虎在首席执行官梅丽莎•梅耶的带领下一直在努力树立传媒公司的形象：它发行了两本电子杂志（《雅虎美食》（Yahoo Food）、《雅虎科技》（Yahho Tech）），发布了手机和网页应用的新版本，聘请了大牌媒体人才，包括技术专家戴维•伯格、新闻主播凯蒂•柯丽克和时尚达人戴维•齐。

    但前期的投资尚未带来回报。雅虎展示广告业务的收入为4.09亿美元，同比增长2%，是这项业务自从2011年第一次实现增长。去年的展示广告收入为4.02亿美元。雅虎搜索广告业务的收入为4.44亿美元，比去年同期的4.09亿美元增长了9%。

    在预期方面，这家公司预计营收在11.2亿美元至11.6亿美元之间。雅虎已经找到走出困境的方法了吗？现在就下断言还为时尚早，但至少，雅虎没有选择错误的方向。

    梅耶说：“我对于公司第一季度的表现非常满意，不计流量获取成本（TAC），雅虎创下了自2010年以来最佳的第一季度营收。第1季度是雅虎核心业务开始增长的重要早期迹象。”（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Yahoo (YHOO) slightly edged out Wall Street expectations on Tuesday after it posted 2014 first-quarter earnings of 38 cents per share on revenue of $1.087 billion, a tiny increase from the same period a year ago.

    Analysts were looking for earnings of 37 cents per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. Shares were up 6% in after-hours trading.

    A big part of that result came thanks to Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company in which Yahoo holds a 24% stake, which posted a 66% year-over-year increase in revenue to $3.06 billion (and a 110% increase in net income) for its fiscal fourth quarter.

    For Yahoo, the narrative remains the same: Lackluster financials bolstered by Alibaba, which is preparing for an initial public offering later this year. The company under chief executive Marissa Mayer has worked hard in the last year to distinguish itself as a media company: It has launched two digital magazines (Yahoo Food and Yahoo Tech), deployed new versions of its mobile and web applications, and hired high-profile media talent in technologist David Pogue, broadcaster Katie Couric, and fashion fixture David Zee.

    But the investment hasn't yet paid off. Revenue for Yahoo's display advertising business came in at $409 million for the quarter, a 2% increase compared to $402 million at the same time a year ago and the first such increase since 2011. Revenue for Yahoo's search advertising business was $444 million, a 9% increase from the year-ago quarter's $409 million.

    In terms of outlook, the company predicted revenue of between $1.12 billion and $1.16 billion. Is Yahoo finding its way out of the woods? It's still too early to tell, but at least the company isn't moving in the wrong direction.

    "I am really pleased by our first-quarter performance, marking our best Q1 revenue ex-TAC since 2010," said Mayer, using the acronym for traffic acquisition costs. "Q1 was an early and important sign of growth in our core business."