SAN FRANCISCO Yahoo ups its sales forecast as Internet advertising rises

The company said second-quarter earnings surged to $50.8 million.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Quarterly income more than doubled at Yahoo! Inc. as company executives touted a resurgence in Internet advertising that prompted them to increase sales and profit projections.
Yahoo, one of the Internet's most prominent brands and a bellwether for the industry, said earnings surged to $50.8 million, or 8 cents per share, in the second quarter. The company earned $21.4 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2002.
The results released Wednesday were in line with forecasts from analysts polled by Thomson First Call.
Net revenue for the second quarter was $321.4 million -- a quarterly record and a 42 percent increase over the $225.8 million reported for the same period last year.
Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., credited its performance to robust Internet advertising, as well as growth in the number of small- and medium-business owners who pay for services such as extra e-mail storage.
Yahoo executives also said they were pleased with the conversion rate of customers from free e-mail and news services to fee-based services such as fantasy baseball and multiplayer games. The company also said it increased revenue from fees on auctions.
Revenue
Meanwhile, Yahoo boosted expectations for third quarter revenue to at least $318 million, and to at least $1.26 billion for the calendar year. It previously estimated full-year revenue between $1.14 billion and $1.21 billion.
The outlook underscores how far Yahoo has come since the company hired Hollywood movie executive Terry Semel as its new leader two years ago. At the time, Yahoo's fortunes were flagging, and in 2001 the company lost $92.8 million on revenue of $717 million.