Yahoo! shares! at! 18! month! high!

Investors feel slightly better with an ex-Googler at the helm

By Brid-Aine Parnell, 20th November 2012

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Yahoo! shares have climbed to their highest level in a year and a half as investors start to believe once more that the web firm is capable of making money.

The stock closed at $18.36 yesterday, not a huge lift, but nevertheless the highest it has been pegged since May 2011.

Shareholders seem to think that new chief Marissa Mayer has a shot at turning the firm around, something previous entrants into the revolving door at the top of the firm haven't been able to do. Other CEOs have come and gone over the last few years without making any major headway, but Mayer's ex-Google credentials appear to have given her an edge - with investors at least.

Over the past few months, Mayer has been shuffling the top table at Yahoo!, getting rid of chief financial officer Tim Morse, who once sat in the chief's chair as an interim solution, and bagging another ex-Googler, Henrique de Castro, to run operations.

Yahoo! used to be a top internet firm and its website is still popular, but its revenues have fallen as competition from the likes of Google bites into its online advertising business, its main source of income.

Mayer has said that turning Yahoo! into a more smartphone-friendly firm is her top priority, a smart move given the ever-growing mobe market and the fact that the competition is wide open on mobile, making it anyone's race to win. ®

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