The first quarter almost certainly will bring more misery. In a forecast released late Tuesday with its fourth-quarter results, Yahoo predicted its revenue for the three months ending March may plunge by as much as 16 percent from last year. The rest of the year looks so murky that Bartz didnt even bother to look beyond the first quarter, breaking from Yahoo tradition.

Despite the dour outlook, investors seemed relieved that Yahoo withstood the recession better than analysts had anticipated at the end of 2008.

Although the Sunnyvale-based company sustained a $303 million loss in the period, the performance surpassed analyst estimates after factoring out about $600 million in charges to account for 1,500 recent layoffs, office closures and the eroding value of Yahoos European operations.

Yahoo shares surged 59 cents, or 5.2 percent, in Tuesdays extended trading after finishing the regular session at $11.34.

The rally baffled Sanford Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay.

“There really wasnt that much to cheer about here,” he said. “I think people are averting their eyes to the fact that this business is still really diminishing.”

The fourth quarter closed the books on Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yangs fruitless 18-month stint as CEO. Bartz, a technology veteran, took the helm two weeks ago.

Signaling there will be no quick fixes, Bartz told analysts in a Tuesday conference call that she is trying to understand Yahoos “very complex” organization as she plots a road map for 2009.

Yahoo is bracing for more bumps along the way. In its first-quarter forecast, management predicted the companys revenue may drop by as much as 16 percent from the same time last year. In a change from the companys past practices, Yahoo refrained from looking beyond March because the economy is so fragile.

Known for her blunt talk, Bartz made it clear she has no intention of selling Yahoo to Microsoft in its entirety. But she left open the possibility of turning over Yahoos search operations to Microsoft – an alternative deal that has been bandied about for the past eight months.

“Its my job to make sure we look at anything that makes sense for the company and creates long-term value for shareholders,” Bartz said during the hour-long call.

“This is not a company that needs to be pulled apart and left for the chickens,” she said.

Reading between the lines of Bartzs remarks, Lindsay predicted it will be several months before Yahoo makes any major moves, such as a Microsoft deal, or exploring other options, such as buying Time Warner Inc.s AOL.

Yahoos fourth-quarter loss translated into 22 cents per share. It compared with a profit of 15 cents per share in the year-ago period, when Yahoo earned $206 million.

If not for one-time charges of about $600 million, Yahoo said it would have earned 17 cents per share. On that basis, the figure exceeded the average earnings estimate of 13 cents among analyst polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue for the period dipped 1 percent to $1.81 billion, though Yahoo said it would have risen 3 percent if not for currency fluctuations. After subtracting the companys advertising commissions, Yahoos revenue totaled $1.37 billion, matching analyst estimates.

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