SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo reported first-quarter sales that exceeded analysts’ estimates, showing the turnaround effort under chief executive Marissa Mayer is displaying some signs of success.
Revenue, excluding that passed onto partner sites, was $1.09 billion during the first quarter, up from $1.07 billion a year earlier, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company said in a statement Tuesday. That compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.08 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
Yahoo earned $312 million, or 29 cents per share, during the first three months of this year. That compared to $390 million, or 35 cents per share, at the same time last year. Excluding one-time items, profit would have been 38 cents a share.
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The sales increases were the first from Yahoo since the fourth quarter of 2012, reflecting how Mayer’s moves to revamp the company to attract users and advertisers may be paying off. Mayer has added content, redesigned services and changed the executive team to spur growth.
‘‘All the things she has done, rolled up together, are creating more usage on the platform across all their properties,’’ said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with Rosenblatt Securities Inc.
Yahoo shares rose 2.3 percent to $34.21 in New York. The stock is down 15 percent so far this year.
Yahoo has attracted investor interest for its stake in Alibaba Group, the largest Chinese e-commerce company. Alibaba is set to file for an initial public offering as soon as this month. Analysts have estimated the company could have a valuation of about $150 billion or more.
Yahoo, which owns about 24 percent of Alibaba, could get a windfall when it sells about 40 percent of its holding at the time of the offering.