• by April 22, 2005

Amid reports that leveraged buyout firm Hellman & Friedman is nearing a deal to buy DoubleClick for as much as $1.2 billion, the online ad services firm reported a quarterly loss.

On Thursday, DoubleClick reported that sales rose 12 percent, as operating expenses exploded to $56.7 million compared to $42.9 million a year ago. The company reported a loss of $917,000, or a penny a share, versus a profit of $7.7 million, or a nickel a share a year ago. The online company's sales increased to $76.3 million from $68 million.

DoubleClick projected second-quarter revenue from $71 million to $77 million and said its results would be between 2 cents a share in profit and a loss of 2 cents a share, lower than Wall Street estimates, of a profit of 4 cents a share on sales of $76 million.

We can't wait to see how this one turns out - the acquisition of DoubleClick that is. Will Hellman of San Francisco or the rival contenders we mentioned yesterday acquire the company?

Meanwhile, online search giant Google also reported quarter earnings, posting a quarterly profit nearly six times higher than the year-ago period. Strength in the search advertising sector sent shares of Google soaring to $223.77 in after-hours trading. Sky-high. The only other company that comes close is Yahoo!, and we're convinced it could happen, soon.