by Scott Martin, USA TODAY
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer on Monday said the search giant reported revenue of $1.09 billion in the third quarter.

The company handily beat estimates with adjusted profit of 35 cents a share compared with consensus estimates of 25 cents a share.

Including the sale of Alibaba, Yahoo (YHOO) reported third-quarter profit of $3.2 billion, or $2.64 per share. In the same period a year ago, Yahoo reported profit of $298.3 million, or $0.23 per share.

It was the first time Mayer had presided over the company's earnings call, one closely watched by Wall Street for clues to the struggling Internet pioneer's future direction.

"This job is tailor made for me," Mayer said on a conference call with analysts and investors. "I came to Yahoo to grow and redefine" the company.

After the conference call with analysts and investors began around 5 p.m. ET, shares of Yahoo jumped 4.1% to $16.41 in after-hours trading. The stock had ended 7 cents lower to $15.77 ahead of the earnings announcement.

The company was forecast to earn net income of $306.5 million on revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 12, according to the survey of estimates from Thomson Reuters.

Former long-time Google executive Mayer took the reins at Yahoo in July. Since taking the role, in addition to giving birth she has delivered a new cast of executives under her tenure.

A sting to Google (GOOG), this month she stole away Henrique de Castro, one of the search company's top ad executives, who will serve as chief operating officer at Yahoo starting by January or sooner.

In August, she hired Kathy Savitt, a former American Eagle Outfitters marketing chief, to take the role of chief marketing officer at Yahoo. In September, she brought in Jacqueline Reses, a former executive at Apax Partners, as the company's human resources and recruitment chief. Also in September, the company brought in new CFO Ken Goldman, former CFO at Fortinet.

Rival Google reported financial results last week that missed both profit and revenue estimates. The Internet search giant's cost-per-click rate declined 15% as the company faced increases in mobile queries, which advertiser pay less for ad placement against.

USA TODAY