SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Yahoo Inc. will provide a snapshot of the challenges facing newly hired CEO Marissa Mayer Tuesday when it releases second-quarter earnings.
The results, due out after the stock market closes, have already been upstaged by the surprise hire of a longtime executive at its rival, Google Inc. Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., named Mayer as its new CEO late Monday.
Mayer, 37, was chosen over Yahoo's interim CEO, Ross Levinsohn. Until Monday, he had been perceived as a shoo-in for the job. It was Levinsohn, 48, who had stepped in to fill the void when CEO Scott Thompson was jettisoned this spring after some inaccurate academic credentials were revealed.
It is the second time in less than a year that Levinsohn has been passed over for the top job and his future with the company will be a pressing and concern among industry watchers. He was in line for the job after CEO Carol Bartz was fired in September as well.
Turmoil within the top echelon at Yahoo has created more angst as it struggles to match Google and Facebook Inc., which are eating up more and more traffic and advertising revenue. Most analysts believe Yahoo's second-quarter revenue will be just slightly above last year's at this time. But investors want more. They want to see some of the same robust growth that Google and Facebook have enjoyed for years.
Yahoo's earnings will be will be clipped by an anticipated charge of up to $145 million to cover the costs of laying off 2,000 employees, about 14 percent of its workforce.
Analysts, on average, expect Yahoo to earn 20 cents per share on revenue of $1.09 billion, after subtracting the company's ad commissions.
Those expecting to hear from Mayer on Tuesday may be disappointed. She told The Associated Press Monday that she intends to skip the earnings conference call so that she can meet immediately with Yahoo employees and executives.
Some believe Yahoo will prune its operations even more as it tries to boost profits and prop up a stock that began to sag four years ago when the company walked away from an offer of $33 per share from Microsoft Corp.
On Monday in premarket trading, shares rose nearly 3 percent to $16.09.
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