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Facebook priced its IPO at $38 a share, raising $16 billion which will be the third largest IPO in U.S. history and the largest ever IPO by a U.S. technology company.

It will start trading tomorrow under the symbol:  FB

At $38 a share Facebook is valued at $104 Billion dollars.

At $38 Facebook will trade at more than 100x of earnings or PE

For comparison sake here are the some market caps & PE of some other high tech companies based on today’s closing price:

Apple $495 Billion  PE 13

Microsoft $250 Billion  PE 11

Google $203 Billion PE 19

Yahoo $18 Billion   PE 17

Linked In $10 Billion  PE 718…

The CEO of Yahoo Scott Thompson resigned tonight according to a  report in the Wall Steet Journal.  He told the company  that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Ross Levinsohn was named as interim Chief Executive Officer.

Here is the press release:

“”Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) today announced that the Board of Directors has named Fred Amoroso as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Ross Levinsohn as interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. .
Mr. Amoroso replaces Roy Bostock, who has stepped down from his role as Non-Executive Chairman in order to accelerate the leadership transition for the new Board. Mr. Levinsohn replaces Scott Thompson, former Chief Executive Officer, who has left the Company.

Under the Board’s settlement agreement with Third Point, three Third Point nominees — Daniel S. Loeb, Harry J. Wilson, and Michael J. Wolf — will join the Yahoo! Board, effective May 16, 2012. Mr. Bostock, along with Patti Hart, VJ Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson, all of whom previously disclosed their intentions not to stand for re-election, as well as Mr. Thompson, have decided to step down from the Board immediately.

As a part of the settlement agreement, Third Point, which owns an aggregate of 70,545,400 shares, or 5.8% of Yahoo! common stock, has agreed to withdraw its previous Board nominations for consideration at the annual meeting and vote its shares in support of Yahoo!’s nominees. Yahoo!’s slate of director nominees for election or re-election at the 2012 annual meeting of stockholders will now include Fred Amoroso, John Hayes, Peter Liguori, Thomas McInerney, Maynard Webb, Sue James, David Kenny, Brad Smith, Daniel S. Loeb, Harry J. Wilson and Michael J. Wolf.

As interim CEO, Mr. Levinsohn will manage the Company’s day-to-day operations with assistance from Yahoo!’s existing senior leadership team.

“The Board is pleased to announce these changes and the settlement with Third Point, and is confident that they will serve the best interests of our shareholders and further accelerate the substantial advances the Company has made operationally and organizationally since last August. The Board believes in the strength of the Company’s business and assets, and in the opportunities before us, and I am honored to work closely with my fellow directors and Ross to continue to drive Yahoo! forward,” said Fred Amoroso, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board of Directors.

Mr. Amoroso continued, “On behalf of the entire Board, I would also like to thank Patti, VJ, Arthur, Gary and, in particular, Roy, for their dedicated long-term service and contributions to the Board and Yahoo!.”

Third Point Chief Executive Officer Daniel S.…

Demand Media, Inc. (NYSE: DMD)  just reported its earnings for the 1st Q of 2012 beating expectations and sending the stock soaring in aftermarket trading up almost 20%

Some interesting stuff in this report including that Demand invested $18 Million in new gTLD’s.

Previously Demand reported it was allocating $5 Million for new gTLD’s meaning that they were going to apply for some 25 new gTLD’s but now at $18 Million Demand is going to be one of the biggest players for new gTLD program as this equates to some 100 new gTLD applications.

Demand now become a way to play the new gTLD market without having to apply yourself.

eNom revenue was up 17% and grew by about 600,000 domains in the quarter.

These results maybe why Demand reportedly turned down an offer of $1.2 Billion a couple of weeks ago to go private.

Here is are the results:

Q1 2012 Financial Summary:

• Content & Media revenue ex-TAC grew 4% year-over-year and increased 1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Year-over-year comparisons were impacted by early 2011 search algorithm changes. The 1% sequential improvement included the second consecutive quarter of revenue growth for eHow.

• Registrar revenue (eNom) grew 17% year-over-year and 3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011.

• During the first quarter of 2012, the number of registered domains grew by a net 593,000 compared to 442,000 in the first quarter of 2011, due to growth from new partners and organic growth from resellers.

• Loss from operations and net loss include $1.8 million of accelerated non-cash amortization expense associated with content intangible assets removed from service in conjunction with the Company’s previously announced plan to improve its content creation and distribution platform.

• Free cash flow increased by $11.8 million year-over-year. The increase was driven by an 81% reduction of investment in intangible assets to $2.7 million. The intangible assets investment decline was the result of planned decreased content spend on eHow as the Company continued to make improvements to its content creation and distribution platform.

“Our first quarter growth and significant free cash flow marks a great start for 2012, particularly in light of a tough year-over-year comparison due to early 2011 search algorithm changes,” said Charles Hilliard, President and CFO. “Demand Media’s increased guidance reflects our first quarter performance, our improved outlook for the remainder of 2012 and, for the first time in more than a year, a return to accelerating year-over-year revenue growth beginning in Q2.”

Business Highlights:

• In April 2012, Demand Media invested $18 million in pursuit of its generic Top Level Domain (“gTLD”) initiative, which it believes represents a complementary strategic growth opportunity for its Registrar services.
…

Tucows.com (AMEX: TCX) reported its earnings for the 1st quarter of 2012 after the market closed today.

“Net revenue for the first quarter of 2012 increased 22% to a record $27.5 million from $22.6 million.”

“Net income for the first quarter of 2012 was $1.7 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with net income for the first quarter of 2011 of $0.7 million, or $0.01 per share.  Net income for the first quarter of 2012 benefitted from other income of $0.5 million resulting from the sale of certain intangible assets with no book value.”

“Deferred revenue at the end of the first quarter of 2012 was $73.0 million, an increase of 12% from $64.9 million at the end of the first quarter of 2011 and $69.2 from the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.

“Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter of 2012 were $6.4 million compared with $4.2 million at the end of the first quarter of 2011 and relatively unchanged from the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. ”

“During the first quarter of 2012, the Company generated cash flow from operations of $2.1 million, as well as $0.5 million in cash proceeds from the aforementioned sale of intangible assets.”

“  In addition, the Company utilized $4.0 million from its credit facility to partially fund the $5.9 million cost of the share repurchases under the modified Dutch auction tender completed in January of this year.  The Company also used $0.5 million for principal repayments under its credit facility and invested $0.2 million in equipment purchases.

NOTE: Beginning in the first quarter of 2012, Tucows has reclassified its revenue streams into three distinct service offerings:

Wholesale, Retail and Portfolio. The realignment is intended to better reflect the manner in which these revenue streams are generated and assessed by management.

YummyName.com sales seem to be now listed under “portfolio”.

Tucows shows $1,891,000 in Domain sales in the 1st quarter up from $1,554,000 in the 1st Q of 2011.

“The first quarter of 2012 was a solid Tucows quarter – growth across all areas of our business, strong cash generation from operations, consistency and reliability,” said Elliot Noss, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tucows Inc. “We generated growth in revenue and gross margin far in excess of the growth in operating expenses, demonstrating the leverage in our business. We think that consistent growth and continued leverage will serve us well throughout 2012.”

Tucows does not trade after hours so we will have to see how the market reacts tomorrow.…

Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHX) today reported its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and reported that year to date, including April 2012 has sold $2.6 Million in domains.

According to the earnings report Marches sold $1.5 Million January-March and another $1.1 Million in April.

Overall Marchex basically matched there year ago results which were in line with market expections and the stock remained basically unchanged in trading right about at its 52 week low

Here are the rest of the results

First Quarter 2012 Consolidated Financial Results:

Revenue was $35.5 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $29.1 million for the same period of 2011.

GAAP net loss applicable to common stockholders was $788,000 for the first quarter of 2012 or $0.02 per diluted share. This compares to GAAP net income applicable to common stockholders of $513,000 or $0.01 per diluted share for the same period of 2011.

Adjusted operating income before amortization was $3.3 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $3.2 million for the same period of 2011.

Adjusted EBITDA was $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to $4.2 million for the same period of 2011.

“We believe the growth of the mobile marketplace will change how advertisers buy and measure new customer phone calls as a lead source,” said Russell C. Horowitz, Marchex Chairman and CEO. “We are focused on the primary drivers of long-term growth in our business, including building a unique technology platform centered on call analytics and performance advertising solutions that can support the needs of our advertiser and publisher partners. We will continue focusing on adding new advertising and publishing partners, as well as deepening our relationships with existing ones.”

Recent Highlights:

1. Call-Driven Revenues: For the first quarter of 2012, revenue from call advertising products was $26.4 million.

2. During the first quarter, Marchex sold a small number of domains that yielded $1.5 million. Including April 2012, year to date domain sales totaled $2.6 million.

3. Marchex also purchased 136,000 shares of its outstanding Class B common stock for a total price of $682,000. This brings Marchex’s total shares repurchased under its stock repurchase program to 11 million shares, or 30% of its outstanding common stock.

4. Today, Russell C. Horowitz, Chairman and CEO, Michael Arends, Chief Financial Officer, John Keister, Executive Vice Chairman and Ethan Caldwell, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, announced they intend to purchase shares of the Company’s Class B common stock in open market transactions over the balance of the year.…

Web.com Group, Inc. (WWWW), the owner of two of the worlds largest registrars, NetworkSolutions.com and Register.com announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 beating estimates and the stock was up almost 20% on the news.

Revenue increase more than 100%.

Summary of First Quarter 2012 Financial Results:

• Total revenue, was $91.5 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $39.5 million for the first quarter of 2011.

• Operating loss, calculated in accordance with GAAP, was $18.5 million for the first quarter of 2012 and included a $28.5 million negative impact related to the fair value adjustment to acquired deferred revenue and deferred expense, and $1.2 million of restructuring charges and corporate development expenses. For the first quarter of 2011, the company reported a GAAP operating loss of $3.6 million, which included a $5.7 million negative impact from the fair value adjustment to acquired deferred revenue and deferred expense.

• GAAP net loss from continuing operations was $29.8 million, or ($0.65) per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2012, and included the above mentioned impact related to the fair value adjustment to acquired deferred revenue and deferred expense, restructuring charges and corporate development expenses, and an income tax benefit of $6.5 million. GAAP net loss from continuing operations was $5.7 million, or ($0.21) per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2011.

• Non-GAAP operating income was $32.0 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $7.7 million for the first quarter of 2011 and representing a record non-GAAP operating margin of 27%.

• Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations was $17.2 million for the first quarter of 2012, or $0.35 per diluted share, above the company’s guidance of $14.8 million to $15.7 million, or $0.30 to $0.32 per diluted share. The Company had non-GAAP net income of $6.4 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011.

• Adjusted EBITDA was $34.0 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $8.6 million for the first quarter of 2011 and representing a record 28% adjusted EBITDA margin.

• The Company generated cash from operations of $14.8 million for the first quarter of 2012 and $17.8 million excluding the pay down of accrued restructuring expenses and certain expenses associated with the recent acquisitions. This compared to $1.5 million and $4.2 million, excluding the pay down of accrued restructuring expenses, assumed compensation liability and expenses associated with the Register.com acquisition, respectively, for the first quarter of 2011.
…

Quinstreet (QNST) reported its earnings for the 1st quarter of 2012 and the nine months ended March 31, 2012, today and they reported lower revenue and earnings than the street was expecting.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped and earnings per share dropped significantly.

QuinStreet revenue was $93.0 million which was down 14% over the same quarter last year,  where they reported $107.7 million.

The street was looking for revenue of $102.6 million.

For the nine month period, the Company reported total revenue of $284.8 million, a decrease of 8% over the same period of the prior year.

Both the education and financial services sectors were off substantially.

For the third quarter, revenue for the Education client vertical was $38.9 million, a decrease of 19% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the Financial Services client vertical was $38.9 million, a decrease of 20% compared to the same quarter last year.

Revenue for Other client verticals was $15.3 million, an increase of 39% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $17.3 million, or 19% of revenue. EBITDA results included a $1.4 million unexpected bad debt write-off of receivables due the Company by an agency that became insolvent during the quarter. Excluding this effect, adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter would have been $18.7 million, or 20% of revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA for the nine month period was $57.4 million, or 20% of revenue.

The Company reported GAAP net income of $2.9 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2012. GAAP net income for the nine month period was $12.8 million, or $0.27 per diluted share.

Adjusted net income for the third quarter was $9.5 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, and $0.23 per share excluding the write-off. For the nine month period, adjusted net income was $32.0 million, or $0.67 per diluted share. Adjusted net income excludes stock-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets, net of estimated tax.

The Company reported GAAP net income of $2.9 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2012. GAAP net income for the nine month period was $12.8 million, or $0.27 per diluted share.

Adjusted net income for the third quarter was $9.5 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, and $0.23 per share excluding the write-off. For the nine month period, adjusted net income was $32.0 million, or $0.67 per diluted share.…

Following the story this weekend that Demand Media, Inc. (DMD)  turned down an offer of $1.2 Billion dollars a 100% premium to its closing price of Friday, it looks like Demand is going to open Way up this morning.

In pre-market trading shares of Demand are up almost 40% currently at $9.95 a gain of $2.70 from Friday’s close.

We will let you know later today how the stock fared.

 …

Allthingsd.com is reporting that Demand Media, Inc. (DMD) turned down $1.2 Billion dollars in a deal that would have taken the company private this past week.

The current market cap of Demand Media is $620 Million at the closing share price on Friday of around $7.25 a share.  Demand is off 65% of its market cap when it went public at $17 a share.

“According to the report,  “Demand Media was deep into discussions with a private equity firm to complete a deal that would have taken the online content company private for almost double its current value.”

“But Demand abandoned the effort this past week… due to a number of challenges, including complications related to its financing and the ability to retain executives in its aftermath.”

Demand Media is one of the largest company’s in the domain name space and of course owns Enom.com the world’s second largest domain registrar.

Its a interesting story and you should check it out here.

 …

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 after the market closed today.

“VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $206 million for the first quarter of 2012, up 13% from the same quarter in 2011. ”

“Verisign reported net income of $68 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.42 for the first quarter of 2012, compared to net income of $41 million and diluted EPS of $0.24 in the same quarter in 2011. ”

“The operating margin was 48.1% for the first quarter of 2012 compared to 36.1% for the same quarter in 2011.”

“Verisign reported, on a non-GAAP basis, net income of $68 million and diluted EPS of $0.42 for the first quarter of 2012, compared to net income of $55 million and diluted EPS of $0.32 for the same quarter in 2011. ”

“The non-GAAP operating margin was 51.9% for the first quarter of 2012 compared to 45.9% for the same quarter in 2011.”

However Verisign missed the estimates and is down about 4%  after hours.

Financial Highlights

• Verisign ended the first quarter with Cash, Cash Equivalents, Marketable Securities and Restricted Cash of $1.39 billion, an increase of $40 million from year end 2011.
• Cash flow from operations was $110 million for the first quarter compared with $90 million for the same quarter in 2011.
• Deferred revenues on March 31, 2012, totaled $783 million, an increase of $55 million from year end 2011.
• Capital expenditures were $13 million in the first quarter of 2012.
• During the first quarter, Verisign repurchased approximately 1.8 million shares of the company’s common stock for a cost of $68 million. At March 31, 2012, approximately $763 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program.
• For purposes of calculating diluted EPS, the first quarter diluted share count included 2.5 million shares related to the convertible debentures, compared with 0.5 million shares in the same quarter in 2011. These represent diluted shares and not shares that have been issued.

Business Highlights

• Verisign Registry Services added 2.86 million net new names and ended the first quarter with approximately 116.7 million active domain names in the adjusted zone for .com and .net, representing an 8.1% increase year-over-year.
• In the first quarter, Verisign processed a record 8.9 million new domain name registrations, representing an increase of 7.7% year-over-year.
• On March 27, 2012, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) posted renewal terms negotiated between Verisign and ICANN for the .com Registry Agreement which are substantially the same as the terms contained in the existing .com Registry Agreement except for new provisions regarding indemnification and audit rights, consistent with the other five largest generic top level domain (gTLD) registry agreements (including the .net agreement).
…