Ask Jeeves Rallies After Strong Quarter

Updated from Jan. 28

Ask Jeeves (ASKJ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) rose 3% in early trading Thursday after the search engine company's earnings beat expectations.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, the company reported revenue of $31.8 million, up 58% from the prior year's figure and ahead of the Thomson First Call consensus of $31 million.

Pro forma income from continuing operations amounted to $8.2 million, or 14 cents per share, ahead of the First Call estimate of 11 cents. The year-ago figure was $4.5 million, or 10 cents per share.

Including items such as amortization of other assets, the GAAP income from continuing operations was $7.6 million, or 13 cents per share.

Ask Jeeves, which said that the growth in queries users made on its site outpaced query growth for the search market in general, derives a majority of its revenue from search-related ads sold by the search engine giant Google.

Looking ahead, Ask Jeeves forecast 2004 revenues of about $142 million, just ahead of the $139 million already expected by analysts surveyed by First Call. Pro forma earnings per share, said the company, should hit 60 cents, ahead of the 56-cent First Call figure.

On Thursday, the stock rose 59 cents to $22.68.