Yahoo Posts $303M Loss, Beats Estimates

Yahoo Inc. stumbled to a fourth-quarter loss of $303 million, but the Internet company withstood the recession better than analysts had expected. Yahoo's loss—officially wrapping up the Jerry Yang era—translated into 22 cents per share, compared with a profit of 15 cents per share in the prior year, when Yahoo earned $206 million. Investors seemed relieved as shares gained 41 cents in extended trading, after finishing the regular session at $11.34, up 17 cents.

The fourth-quarter setback wasn't as bad as it appeared because the loss stemmed from one-time charges of nearly $600 million related to restructuring. If not for those, Yahoo said it would have earned 17 cents per share, beating the estimate of 13 cents per share by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuter.  (More Yahoo stories.)