SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 ----------- FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 DATE OF REPORT: July 7, 2004 ----------- YAHOO! INC.. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) 0-28018 (Commission File Number) DELAWARE 77-0398689 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) incorporation or organization) 701 FIRST AVE. SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA 94089 (Address of principal executive offices, with zip code) (408) 349-3300 (Registrant's telephone number, including area code) Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits. (c) Exhibits. 99.1 Press release dated July 7, 2004 by Yahoo! Inc. Item 12. Results of Operations and Financial Condition The information in this Current Report is being furnished and shall not be deemed "filed" for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. On July 7, 2004, Yahoo! Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Yahoo!"), announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2004 and certain other information. A copy of Yahoo!'s press release announcing these financial results and certain other information is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and incorporated by reference herein. The press release attached as an exhibit to this report includes "safe harbor" language pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, indicating that certain statements about the Company's business and other matters contained in the press release are "forward-looking" rather than "historic." The press release also states that a more thorough discussion of certain factors which may affect the Company's operating results is included, among other sections, under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003 and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2004, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and available at the Securities and Exchange Commission's website (http://www.sec.gov), and will also be included in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2004 to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the third quarter of 2004. The press release also discloses the financial measures revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs ("TAC"), operating income before depreciation and amortization, and free cash flow, which are considered non-GAAP financial measures. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company's performance, financial position, or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. We believe these financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses that may not be indicative of our core operating results. We believe these financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. In addition, we have historically reported similar financial measures to our investors and believe that the inclusion of comparative numbers provides consistency in our financial reporting at this time. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures revenues excluding TAC, operating income before depreciation and amortization, and free cash flow are helpful, when presented in conjunction with the comparable GAAP measures of gross profit, income from operations, and cash flow from operating activities. Revenues excluding TAC is defined as gross profit before other cost of revenues. Following our acquisition of Overture Services, Inc. ("Overture"), on October 7, 2003, our total costs of revenue include TAC paid to affiliates of Overture in connection with its sponsored search services. TAC also comprises a significant percentage of the revenues reported from Overture. We believe revenues excluding TAC is a useful measure to management and investors because it is more comparable to our historically reported profitability numbers. A limitation of revenues excluding TAC is that other cost of revenues are excluded and therefore it does not represent the actual gross profit for the period. Operating income before depreciation and amortization is defined as income (loss) from operations before depreciation, amortization of intangible assets and amortization of stock compensation expense. We consider operating income before depreciation and amortization to be an important indicator of the operational strength of the Company. This measure eliminates the effects of depreciation, amortization of intangible assets and amortization of stock compensation expense from period to period, which we believe is useful to management and investors in evaluating the operating performance of the Company as depreciation and amortization costs are not directly attributable to the underlying performance of the Company's business operations. A limitation associated with this measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues in the Company's businesses. Management evaluates the costs of such tangible and intangible assets through other financial measures such as capital expenditures. A further limitation associated with this measure is that it does not include stock compensation expenses related to our workforce. Management compensates for this limitation by providing supplemental information about stock compensation expense on the face of our consolidated statements of operations. Free cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities less net capital expenditures. In addition for the quarters ended June 30, 2002 and December 31, 2003, free cash flow also included change in long-term deferred revenue and Overture receivable settled through acquisition, respectively. Change in long-term deferred revenue represented cash payments received in advance of revenue recognized. Overture receivable settled through acquisition represented a Yahoo! accounts receivable balance owed from Overture that was settled as part of the acquisition. We consider free cash flow to be a liquidity measure which provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated after the acquisition of property and equipment, which can then be used for strategic opportunities including, among others, investing in the Company's business, making strategic acquisitions, strengthening the balance sheet and repurchasing stock. A limitation of free cash flow is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance for the period. In addition, management refers to these financial measures to facilitate internal and external comparisons to the Company's historical operating results, in making operating decisions, for budget planning purposes, and in some cases as a factor in determining management compensation. These measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, gross profit, income from operations, cash flow from operating activities, or other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The non-GAAP measures included in our press release have been reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP measure as is required under SEC rules regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures. As used herein, "GAAP" refers to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized. YAHOO! INC. Date: July 7, 2004 By: /s/ Susan Decker ----------------------------------- Susan Decker Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration, and Chief Financial Officer YAHOO! INC. INDEX TO EXHIBITS Exhibit Number Description - -------------- ----------- 99.1 Press Release dated July 7, 2004.