Yahoo! Raises the Bar Again

Looking forward, Yahoo! raised 2003 revenue guidance from a range of $1.075 billion to $1.175 billion up to a range of $1.145 billion to $1.215 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- a common media-industry financial yardstick -- went from a range of $250 million to $300 million to a range of $295 million to $330 million. Those numbers don't take into account Yahoo!'s pending acquisition of Inktomi (INKT Quote - Cramer on INKT - Stock Picks).

Yahoo! forecast that marketing services revenue, or traditional and pay-per-click advertising, would grow 20% in 2003; fees and listings revenue will grow 30%, says Yahoo!, thanks to strength in for-pay personals, mail and Internet access services.

Addressing Yahoo!'s goal of increasing its revenue per average user per month, Chief Financial Officer Sue Decker said the company had reaped 46 cents per customer per month in the fourth quarter, up from 42 cents in the third quarter and 35 cents in the fourth quarter of 2001. The company had 2.2 million individual customers paying for services at the close of 2002, up from 400,000 a year earlier.

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