Search Engines Ignite on Ask Jeeves Outlook

Updated from 9:11 a.m. EST

Ask Jeeves(ASKJ Quote) said first-quarter earnings and revenue will be higher than forecast, igniting a rally in the Internet search space Thursday morning. The company also announced the acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings, parent of the Excite Network.

Ask Jeeves, based in Emeryville, Calif., expects to earn 17 cents a share on revenue of $37 million in the quarter ending next month. It also predicted pro forma earnings of 18 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson One Analytics were predicting pro forma earnings of 16 cents a share and revenue of $35.25 million. Ask Jeeves cited higher-than-expected traffic to its Web sites.

For all of 2004, excluding any accretion from the Interactive Search acquisition, Ask Jeeves expects to earn a pro forma 68 cents a share on revenue of $148 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson One Analytics were forecasting pro forma earnings of 64 cents a share on revenue of $146.6 million. ...