Yahoo turnaround effort gathers steam in 2Q as online ad rebound lifts earnings, revenue

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Yahoo 2Q earnings climb 51 pct, revenue up 2 pct

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc.’s turnaround effort picked up a little more steam in the second quarter, but revenue grew at a slower rate than analysts hoped.

The stock fell nearly 5 percent after the release of results Tuesday.

The results still marked Yahoo’s best performance since it hired no-nonsense CEO Carol Bartz 18 months ago.

Yahoo’s modest growth provided the latest sign that technology and electronic commerce are recovering from the Great Recession a little quicker than other parts of the economy.

But those encouraging signs are being clouded by uncertainty about the stability of world markets. Despite healthy net income, other technology companies including IBM Corp. have seen shares drop after they also disclosed modest revenue growth.

Yahoo earned $213 million, or 15 cents a share, in the three months ending in June. That represented a 51 percent increase from net income of $141 million, or 10 cents a share, at the same time last year.

Yahoo’s earnings per share of 15 cents were a penny above analyst estimates.

Revenue for the period edged up 2 percent to $1.6 billion, from $1.57 billion.

Shares of Yahoo fell 74 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $14.46 in extended trading Tuesday. Earlier, it closed the regular session up 10 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $15.20.