Lycos flies past 2Q estimates

Lycos Inc. (Nasdaq: LCOS) easily topped analysts' estimates in its second quarter Tuesday, raking in $3 million, or 3 cents a share, on sales of $68.6 million.

First Call consensus expected the Internet portal to earn 1 cent a share in the quarter.

Lycos shares closed off 1 1/4 to 69 1/16 ahead of the earnings report but surged up to 73 5/8 in after-hours trading.

The $68.6 million in sales marks a 120 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it lost $1.6 million, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $31.1 million.

"Once again we have posted strong revenue growth along with significant operating leverage in our business model," said CEO Edward Philip in a prepared release. "The holiday season was particularly strong for our e-commerce business, as those revenues grew by over 42 percent this quarter."

Including adjustment for intangible asset amortization and one-time expenses, Lycos reported a net loss of $30.9 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with a loss of $13.8 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.

Company officials said advertising revenue more-than-doubled from the year-earlier quarter to $44.3 million, while electronic commerce and licensing revenue also more-than-doubled, to $24.2 million.

Worldwide traffic grew to 122 million page views per day in the quarter while U.S. traffic improved 23 percent to 101 million page views a day.

Last quarter, Lycos met analysts' estimates, earning $700,000, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $56 million.

Lycos shares moved up to a 52-week high of 93 5/8 in December after bottoming out at 28 9/16 in August.

Eighteen of the 20 analysts tracking the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.

First Call consensus expects Lycos to return a profit of 9 cents a share in the fiscal year.