Yahoo beats profit expectations, details strategy

— -- Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson on Tuesday outlined the nitty-gritty of plans to try to turn around the Internet pioneer.

The moves came as the company posted profits above Wall Street's expectations.

The new chief executive said Yahoo is shutting or "transitioning" about 50 properties that are struggling to attract users or revenue in a bid to streamline.

"Yahoo has been doing way too much for too long," he said.

Under the strategy, the company also will undergo a massive shuffling of its staff in an attempt to become a nimbler competitor.

"Yahoo has built processes that were originally intended to help us scale, but they've become way too complex and have stifled innovation," he said. "We simply must change that."

Yahoo reported first-quarter profit of $286 million, a 28% jump from a year ago; revenue was up 1% to $1.1 billion in the period. The company's earnings per share beat by a nickel the 17 cents forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Two weeks ago Yahoo said it would provide a blueprint for its future as it announced plans to slash 2,000 jobs, or 14% of its workforce. The layoffs represent its fifth significant round in five years.

Only two days after the layoffs, Yahoo said product chief Blake Irving would be leaving the company in the reorganization.

Thompson became Yahoo's CEO in January. Former chief executive Carol Bartz had been shown the exit in September in what has become a revolving door.

"For companies of that scale, it gets really hard to make these changes," said independent analyst Jonathan Yarmis. "Changing the direction of a battleship and turning it into a PT boat is almost unprecedented."

Yahoo's advertising business has struggled to compete with Facebook and Google. Facebook snagged 14% of U.S. online display ad revenue, compared with Yahoo's 10.8% in 2011, according to research firm eMarketer.

"Our display business is nowhere close to where it needs to be," Thompson said.

Google is expected to grab 77.9% of U.S. search advertising revenue this year. The U.S. online advertising market is expected to grow 23.3% to $39.5 billion this year.

On Monday, Yahoo appointed two executives to head a new commerce business unit designed to connect consumers to marketers and merchants.