Well, well, well, that financial imp at Microsoft–CFO Chris Liddell–pulled a fast one on Wall Street and turned in first-quarter earnings that blew away all estimates and even whisper numbers.

BoomTown liveblogged the morning conference call, which took place at 7:30 am PT–thanks for the Kiwi-laced wake-up call, Chris!

While revenue and net income in Q1 were down significantly from the same period a year ago, they were not as bad as investors expected.

Which apparently passes for terrific these days!

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Microsoft has had a high-profile week, between launching its new Windows 7 operating system and striking real-time feed partnerships with both Twitter and Facebook.

But Wall Street is not expecting quite as much excitement from the software giant’s first-quarter earnings, which will be announced before the markets open this morning.

So any beating of expectations would be seen as a big deal by investors.

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Yahoo bested Wall Street expectations today, announcing stronger net income for its third quarter, despite an also expected decline in revenue.

In addition, Yahoo’s expectations for the fourth quarter are more positive than expected by investors.

But, there were some issues to worry about: Search advertising revenue was off 19 percent and display was off eight percent at “Owned and Operated” sites on Yahoo.

So, while investors can finally relax, how Yahoo can grow going forward is sure to be their next focus.

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Look, don’t just take BoomTown’s word for it–here are some of the slides Yahoo put out yesterday on its financial performance for the fourth quarter.

And who doesn’t love a good bar chart?

Using comparisons from a year ago, they shows show a lackluster picture of growth in general, but also that glimmer of the promise of what Yahoo could be again–just as new CEO Carol Bartz kept underscoring–actually, jack-hammering–at the analyst conference call about the results.

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Earlier today Microsoft decided it would drop the bomb early by moving its second-quarter earnings conference call to 8 a.m. PST instead of 2:30 p.m. PST.

BoomTown, naturally, had to liveblog the Microsoft event, in which its execs tried mightily to put lipstick on a very ugly pig. It was a good effort, at least.

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Weaker results? Check.

Guidance going forward weaker still? Check.

Layoffs? Check.

Economy sucks? Double check!

Nonetheless, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said he “remained optimistic” about Yahoo and was going to “get fit” and power through its obvious troubles.

Get this guy over to the McCain campaign, pronto!

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Here is the official press release from Yahoo (YHOO) on its third-quarter results:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Yahoo! Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results Revenues–$1,786 Million
Operating Income–$70 Million
Operating Income Before Depreciation, Amortization, and Stock-Based Compensation Expense–$410 Million

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