Yahoo beats earnings expectations but analysts expectations still high

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KGO) -- CEO Marissa Mayer is now two years into her tenure and some analysts don't feel she's done enough to turn the once iconic company around.

Pressure was high entering Tuesday's third quarter earnings call. Yahoo beat it's third quarter earnings expectations, but industry insiders aren't overly impressed.

"Was there a blockbuster headline that came out of today? No. Is that a good thing? Probably," said Professor Terry Connelly. Connelly is Dean Emeritus at Golden Gate University Business School. He believes since Yahoo beat expectations, it buys Mayer more time.

Connelly feels much of Yahoo's success this quarter came from strong financial engineering, like the Alibaba investment and subsequent IPO.

"In terms of the future, Yahoo needs to find some of its core business performing as well as its CFO office," explained Connelly.

Tuesday was the first time Yahoo has broken out its mobile revenue.

"They're expecting by the end of the year to have mobile ad revenue of $1.2 billion," said CNET Senior Writer, Seth Rosenblatt. He says releasing that statistic is a big deal.

"By announcing the mobile ad revenue, is not only throwing a bone to activist investors, saying look we're doing really well, in this scenario, she's also saying, this is what the company's going to be focusing on for the foreseeable future," said Rosenblatt.

Even with an increase in mobile advertising, Connelly isn't sure Yahoo can recover ground from Google or Facebook. "When you're late to the party, you always look like you're catching up."

Yahoo's shares rose slightly in after-hours trading.