Exhibit 99
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
YAHOO! REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND
1997 FISCAL YEAR END FINANCIAL RESULTS
FOURTH QUARTER PRO FORMA NET INCOME OF $0.05 PER SHARE
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. - JAN. 14, 1998 - Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) today
reported net revenues totaling $25,105,000 for the fourth quarter ended Dec.
31, 1997 compared to net revenues of $8,943,000 for the fourth quarter of
1996, an increase of 181 percent. Pro forma net income was $2,574,000 or
$0.05 per share, excluding the previously announced one-time charge of
$3,850,000 incurred in connection with the acquisition of Four11 Corporation.
This compared with a net loss of $666,000 or $0.02 per share for the fourth
quarter of 1996. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 1997, including the
above-mentioned one-time charge, was $1,276,000 or $0.03 per share.
Net revenues for fiscal 1997 were $67,411,000 compared to $19,697,000 in
fiscal 1996, an increase of 242 percent. Pro forma net income for fiscal
1997 was $2,208,000 or $0.04 per share compared to a net loss of $4,285,000
or $0.11 per share in fiscal 1996. Pro forma fiscal 1997 results exclude the
second quarter one-time non-cash charge related to the Visa Marketplace
restructuring and the fourth quarter one-time charge relating to the
acquisition of Four11 Corporation. Including these one-time charges, fiscal
1997 net loss was $22,887,000 or $0.53 per share.
Yahoo! also announced that its traffic grew to an average of 65 million
page views per day during the month of December 1997, compared to the 50
million page views per day average during September 1997. Yahoo! Japan, which
is included in the above page view totals, increased to an average of 5
million page views per day in December 1997, compared to 4 million page views
per day average during September 1997. A page view is defined as one
electronic page of information displayed in response to a user request.
"Yahoo! continues to be a leader in user traffic and advertising
revenue," said Tim Koogle, president and CEO of Yahoo!. "During 1997 we
aggressively expanded on our core navigational guide platform and emerged as
the leader in a wide array of content and services. Our aggressive expansion
of Yahoo!'s global branded network of properties helped us drive both our
traffic and our revenues to record levels. During the year, we invested
substantially in the business, growing our worldwide presence. At the same
time, we managed our business carefully and demonstrated the strength of our
core business model by generating a positive cash flow from operations this
year.
"Yahoo!'s significant growth in popularity and acceptance during this
past year would not have been possible without the tremendous support we
continue to receive from our users, advertisers and partners," added Koogle.
"We are committed to maintaining Yahoo!'s leadership position by satisfying
the needs of our users and advertisers through the aggressive introduction of
relevant and innovative programming and services."
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YAHOO! REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND 1997 FISCAL YEAR END FINANCIAL RESULTS/PAGE 2
During the fourth quarter, Yahoo! expanded its Internet communication
and community services while extending its distribution. The company
recently entered into a partnership with MCI to provide users an integrated
co-marketed online service. Known as Yahoo! Online POWERED BY MCI Internet,
the new service will provide a comprehensive, easy-to-use alternative for
people wanting access to the Internet. Yahoo! Online leverages Yahoo!'s
existing business while extending its online and offline distribution to
drive traffic to the Yahoo! network of properties. Yahoo! also announced a
custom, free personal home page service from GeoCities for Yahoo!-Registered
Trademark- members. Additionally, Yahoo! will be the premier navigational
guide service and provider of free personalized member services for
GeoCities' extensive audience. During the quarter, Yahoo! completed the
acquisition of Four11 Corporation and integrated free Web-based email into
the Yahoo! family of properties. Yahoo! and TV Guide Online joined forces to
create and provide a Web entertainment chat arena offering Yahoo! Chat users
the opportunity to have dynamic conversations with celebrities.
Yahoo! continued to expand its electronic commerce efforts during the
fourth quarter to provide its users with convenient and easy access to
valuable online shopping merchants and resources. The company enhanced Visa
Shopping Guide by Yahoo! with a new product and price comparison shopping
service in conjunction with Junglee. Yahoo! also introduced an online
car-buying merchant program and launched Yahoo! Autos featuring
Microsoft-Registered Trademark-CarPoint and Autoweb.com to provide one-button
access to information on buying, selling and researching new and used cars.
Yahoo! teamed up with The SABRE Group, the leader in electronic travel
transactions, to be its exclusive co-branded provider of travel booking
services to Yahoo! users through Travelocity on the Yahoo! Travel Web pages.
In the area of entertainment, Yahoo! added one-button access to purchase
movie videos from Reel.com and VideoServe.com.
Yahoo! continued extending its programming through regional and national
properties during the quarter. In addition to launching Yahoo! Autos, the
company launched Yahoo! Travel, a central resource for domestic and
international travel needs, including air, car, and hotel accommodations.
Yahoo! enhanced its sports programming on Yahoo! Sports to include more
comprehensive information, team pages and player bios, profiles, news, stats
and events with original content from The Sporting News and
SportsTicker-Registered Trademark-. Yahoo! recently announced it has joined
with AudioNet to offer Yahoo! users access to audio and video Internet
broadcasts for events related to specific categories and shared-interest
areas. The broadcasts will initially be launched throughout Yahoo! Sports
and Yahoo! Net Events and will be expanded throughout relevant Yahoo!
programming. Yahoo! expanded its international territories and launched
Yahoo! Scandinavia with localized Internet guides in local languages for
Denmark (www.yahoo.dk), Norway (www.yahoo.no) and Sweden (www.yahoo.se).
ABOUT YAHOO!
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is a global Internet media company that offers
a network of branded Web programming that serves millions of users daily. As
the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the single
largest guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user
reach, and is one of the most recognized brands associated with the Internet.
Yahoo! Inc. provides targeted Internet resources and communications services
for a broad range of audiences, based on demographic, key-subject and
geographic interests. Yahoo! is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.
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YAHOO! REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND 1997 FISCAL YEAR END FINANCIAL RESULTS/PAGE 3
This announcement contains forward looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, including those relating to company's ability to grow its
user and advertiser base. Actual results may differ materially from the
results predicted and reported results should not be considered an indication
of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among
others, the company's limited operating history, the increasingly competitive
environment for advertising sales and other Yahoo! branded services, the
early stage of the Web as an advertising medium, the company's dependence on
advertising revenues and third parties for sales, technology, content and
distribution. More information about potential factors that could affect the
company's business and financial results is included in the company's annual
report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 1996, the company's quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the period ended Sept. 30, 1997, and the company's
registration statement filed on Form S-3 on Jan. 8, 1998, which is on file
with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(http://sec.yahoo.com/edgar/latest/yhoo.html).
# # #
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
their respective owners.
CONTACTS:
Gary Valenzuela, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Yahoo! Inc.
(408) 731-3350, investor_relations@yahoo-inc.com
Diane Hunt, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Yahoo! Inc.
(408) 731-3441, diane@yahoo-inc.com
YAHOO! INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
THREE MONTHS ENDED YEAR ENDED
DECEMBER 31, DECEMBER 31,
--------------------- ----------------------
(UNAUDITED) (AUDITED)
--------------------- ----------------------
1997 1996 1997 1996
------- ------ ------- -------
NET REVENUES $25,105 $8,943 $67,411 $19,697
COST OF REVENUES 3,229 1,491 9,372 3,316
------- ------ ------- -------
GROSS PROFIT 21,876 7,452 58,039 16,381
------- ------ ------- -------
OPERATING EXPENSES:
SALES AND MARKETING 15,129 6,314 43,930 15,106
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 3,525 1,993 11,138 5,150
GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE 1,971 1,705 6,472 4,878
OTHER - NONRECURRING COSTS 3,850 - 25,095 -
------- ------ ------- -------
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 24,475 10,012 86,635 25,134
------- ------ ------- -------
LOSS FROM OPERATIONS (2,599) (2,560) (28,596) (8,753)
INVESTMENT INCOME, NET 1,227 1,520 4,982 3,928
MINORITY INTERESTS IN LOSSES FROM OPERATIONS
OF CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES 96 374 727 540
------- ------ ------- -------
NET LOSS ($1,276) ($666) ($22,887) ($4,285)
------- ------ ------- -------
------- ------ ------- -------
BASIC AND DILUTED LOSS PER SHARE ($0.03) ($0.02) ($0.53) ($0.11)
------- ------ ------- -------
------- ------ ------- -------
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES USED IN
LOSS PER SHARE CALCULATION 44,767 41,168 43,583 39,256
------- ------ ------- -------
------- ------ ------- -------
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PRO FORMA DILUTED INCOME PER SHARE
(UNAUDITED)(1) $0.05 $0.04
------- -------
------- -------
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES USED
IN PRO FORMA DILUTED INCOME PER
SHARE CALCULATION 53,255 50,868
------- -------
------- -------
(1) PRO FORMA DILUTED INCOME PER SHARE EXCLUDES THE EFFECT OF OTHER
NONRECURRING COSTS OF $3,850,000 INCURRED IN CONNECTION WITH THE
ACQUISITION OF FOUR11 CORPORATION DURING THE QUARTER ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1997
AND A ONE-TIME NON-CASH CHARGE OF $21,245,000 RELATED TO THE VISA
MARKETPLACE RESTRUCTURING INCURRED DURING THE QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30, 1997.
NOTE: THE RESULTS FOR ALL PERIODS PRESENTED HAVE BEEN RESTATED TO REFLECT THE
COMBINED RESULTS OF YAHOO! INC. AND FOUR11 CORPORATION TO REFLECT A MERGER OF
THE TWO COMPANIES WHICH WAS COMPLETED ON OCTOBER 20, 1997 AND HAS BEEN
ACCOUNTED FOR AS A POOLING OF INTERESTS.
YAHOO! INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(IN THOUSANDS)
(AUDITED)
DECEMBER 31, DECEMBER 31,
1997 1996
------------ ------------
ASSETS
CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS
AND INVESTMENTS $107,012 $103,984
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, NET 10,986 5,082
PREPAID EXPENSES 5,893 384
PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET 7,035 2,789
OTHER ASSETS 10,958 729
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TOTAL ASSETS $141,884 $112,968
-------- --------
-------- --------
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
LIABILITIES:
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE $ 5,477 $ 1,106
ACCRUED EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT LIABILITIES 13,127 5,800
DEFERRED REVENUE 4,852 1,347
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TOTAL LIABILITIES 23,456 8,253
MINORITY INTERESTS IN CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES 716 510
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY:
COMMON STOCK 145,683 109,289
ACCUMULATED DEFICIT (27,971) (5,084)
-------- --------
TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 117,712 104,205
-------- --------
$141,884 $112,968
-------- --------
-------- --------
NOTE: THE RESULTS FOR ALL PERIODS PRESENTED HAVE BEEN RESTATED TO REFLECT THE
COMBINED RESULTS OF YAHOO! INC. AND FOUR11 CORPORATION TO REFLECT A MERGER OF
THE TWO COMPANIES WHICH WAS COMPLETED ON OCTOBER 20, 1997 AND HAS BEEN
ACCOUNTED FOR AS A POOLING OF INTERESTS.