According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Yahoo earned $9.4 billion from selling Alibaba shares in its initial public offering (IPO), Sina Technology News reported on Thursday.

Yahoo totally sold 140 million Alibaba shares, and the $9.4 billion it earned included the underwriting discount and commission of $0.816 per share. Following the IPO, Yahoo still holds 383 million Alibaba shares, representing a 15% stake which is lower than the 22.4% stake before IPO in the company.

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Jason Helfstein, analyst of Oppenheimer & Co., and other analysts predicted earlier that Yahoo's earnings would approach $6 billion.

This windfall of Yahoo offers a huge opportunity for its CEO Marissa Mayer. She has yet to say what she will do with the money. But she may use it for acquisitions and buying back shares to help prop up her company's stock price. 

A couple of active investors earlier urged Yahoo to make changes to promote growth. According to an email from Jeffrey Smith, representative of Starboard Value, Yahoo's investor and hedge fund, to Mayer, Yahoo should purchase another U.S. internet portal, AOL, which is facing development difficulties.

Mayer responded that Yahoo would assess Smith's email prudently and would adopt the way best for the both company's and share holders' interest.

Yahoo's revenue and profit in the second quarter were worse than the prediction of Wall Street. The price of display ads fell 24% year-on-year. Yahoo's current share price is only slightly higher than that in the beginning of the year.