Commentary

Just an Online Minute... Earnings!

I don’t normally talk about stock market stuff, but yesterday was a busy day for analysts watching our industry. And they all seem to be talking about the two giants: Yahoo and DoubleClick.

As of Wednesday night, DoubleClick’s media unit officially belongs to MaxWorldwide – formerly L90 – and at DC’s earnings call yesterday, the company reported a small second quarter profit which they said was largely achieved through cost savings measures.

DoubleClick reported a net profit of $4.1 million, compared with a loss of $37.9 million the year before. The company said the biggest decline in revenues came from its recently sold media business, where sales fell to $10.8 million from $33.8 million.

"With several key divestitures behind us, we have successfully transitioned this business into a higher margin technology and data marketing infrastructure company," DoubleClick Chief Executive Kevin Ryan said in a statement. "DoubleClick is now on the right foundation to grow profitably."

Yahoo! also announced earnings and it looks like the giant is doing well. Their shares rose almost 6% yesterday in volatile trading. The interactive company broke a long money-losing streak on Wednesday, when it reported a Q2 profit (yes, “interactive” and “profit” can be used in the same sentence) and a 24% increase in revenues. Yahoo said revenues from new fees it had added to some of its services, like personal ads and enhanced email, and new paid ads it is including in its search results, were up sharply.

Even though some analysts said Yahoo’s stock was too expensive, most are saying that positive changes at the company offer potential for strong growth. In a U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray research report, analyst Safa Rashtchy said that the company's increased focus on new business areas could "pay off big."

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