Don’t call it a comeback (yet): Yahoo’s active Q1 beats estimates

It’s too early to declare whether iconic tech company Yahoo is in full turnaround mode, but the company’s first quarter 2013 earnings certainly show it’s headed in the right direction.

“Our growth strategy will depend on our ability to build, buy, and partner,” Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said during the Q1 2013 earnings call today.

Yahoo brought in $1.14 billion in revenue for the quarter with earnings per share of $0.35 — beating Wall Street’s estimates of $1.1 billion on $0.25 earnings per share. (That’s not quite as high as research firm eMarketer predicted, as VentureBeat reported last month.) The company’s advertising revenue continued to drop, but at a slower rate compared to previous quarters. Display revenue ex-TAC was $402 million for the quarter (11 percent decrease compared to $454 million a year ago), and the number of ads sold dropped 7 percent compared to Q1 2012. It’s search revenue definitely fared better, but Yahoo still has quite a journey ahead of it.

Mayer continued to highlight the company’s stance, noting how active it’s been over the last three months. Yahoo picked up several companies, including acquihire Jybe and its big purchase of Summly, not to mention those rumors about a Dailymotion buyout. The company also redesigned its homepage, overhauled its Yahoo Mail service, and shuttered a ton of underperforming services and applications in favor of polishing up those that are doing well.

Yahoo’s stock was down slightly to $23.79 at market close, and it slid to $22.78 per share in after-hours trading.