Yahoo
CEO Carol Bartz recently appeared on CNBC and emphasized that Yahoo is “marching forward” and that she will prove it. In addition, EVP Hilary Schneider indicated at the Goldman Sachs technology conference that due to quicker-than-expected regulatory approval on the Microsoft (MSFT: 24.29 0.00%) deal, Yahoo now will receive some “unexpected benefits” in the first quarter. These “unexpected” reimbursements when taken along with Carol Bartz’s comments seem to point to strong first quarter results.

AOL
Meanwhile, AOL seems to be struggling in it’s first full quarter as a public company. On their fourth quarter earnings call, AOL provided Q1 guidance for flat year/year domestic advertising revenue. However, in their recent 10-K filing AOL now anticipates a decline in their first quarter domestic ad revenues.

Here is the specific text from the company’s 10-K filing:

…based on current information, we believe domestic display advertising revenues will decline in the first quarter of 2010 as compared to the first quarter of 2009 as a result of our advertising sales organization restructuring which resulted in the reassignment of a majority of our advertising accounts, significantly lower monetization of AOL Properties through our Third Party Network and an approximate $5 million reduction (which represents an approximate 40% year-over-year decline) in advertising revenue related to legacy agreements on certain AOL Properties.

Since the beginning of 2010, AOL shares have been outperforming Yahoo with AOL gaining 5.3% while Yahoo stock slid 7.2%. However, we would expect those performances to reverse over the next few weeks.