This article was published on November 6, 2012

AOL beats expectations in Q3: Revenue flat at $531.7m, net income of $20.8m


AOL beats expectations in Q3: Revenue flat at $531.7m, net income of $20.8m

American Internet media and services company AOL this morning reported its financial results for the third quarter of this year, reporting earnings of 22 cents per share compared to a loss per share of 2 cents in Q3 2011.

AOL was expected to report third-quarter earnings of 17 to 19 cents a share, so the results came in above expectations.

AOL’s total revenue was flat compared to the third quarter of 2011 at $531.7 million, with operating income climbing to $43.1 million and net income reaching $20.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2012. Total ad revenue came in at $340 million for the quarter, up 7 percent from $317.7 in Q3 2011.

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

For Q2 2012, AOL had reported total revenues of $531 million.

Last quarter, AOL’s income from advertising grew an impressive 7 percent in combined AOL Properties Display and Third Party Network revenue, which totaled $248.2 million for the period. The company also notes 8 percent year-over-year growth in Search and Contextual revenue, representing its first quarter of YoY growth in over 3 years.

AOL says this jump was “driven primarily by continued double-digit growth in search revenue on AOL.com”.

Search and contextual revenue growth was impacted by a decline in queries from domestic AOL-brand access subscribers and from cobranded portals. Global display revenue declined 1 percent year-over-year, reflecting a (worrying) 3 percent decline in domestic display revenue, partially offset by double-digit growth in international display advertising revenue, AOL notes in its earnings release.

The Internet giant says unique visitors to AOL properties in Q3 2012 totaled 111 million, growing 4 percent year-over-year, but slightly down compared to Q2 2012.

Shares of the company have more than doubled so far this year, hitting a 52-week high of $37.94 on October 17.

In late August, AOL announced plans to distribute a special cash dividend of $5.15 a share to stockholders before the end of this year.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong says the company is “positioned for growth in 2013”:

“We just reported the best relative revenue performance in seven years and the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year profit growth, exceeding our expectations.”

AOL had approximately $867 million of cash and equivalents at September 30, 2012.

Image credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with