Excite earnings a tad less than expected
The company posts first-quarter results that fall slightly below analysts' expectations, despite a jump in revenues and traffic.
Excite posted a net loss of $7.4 million, or 14 cents a share, for the quarter, slightly narrower than the loss of $7.5 million, or 18 cents, a year ago.
But excluding acquisition charges and amortization of a Netscape deal, the company posted a net profit of $2.5 million, or 4 cents a share. Wall Street, however, was expecting profits of 5 cents, according to First Call.
Excite reported revenues of $54.1 million for the quarter, up from $24.3 million a year ago. Traffic rose to 77 million daily page views in March, up 33 percent from December. The company also increased its registered users to 28 million, up 40 percent during the quarter.
"It was gratifying to see the key metrics of our business?remain solidly on track this quarter, in spite of the wholly expected diversionary pressures of our pending merger with @Home," said George Bell, Excite chief executive, in a statement.
Last January, @Home announced it would acquire Excite in a stock deal valued at $6.7 billion. The deal was aimed at providing consumers with Excite's content over @Home's high-speed access systems.