Yahoo to report 2Q results

Sunnyvale, California: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will have a chance to review her accomplishments during her first year on the job with the release of the Internet company’s second-quarter earnings.

The report, due out Tuesday after the stock market closes, is expected to show Yahoo Inc. is still struggling to boost its revenue even as more advertising shifts to the Internet. More of that marketing money has been flowing to Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., instead of Yahoo.

Since Mayer’s hiring a year ago on Tuesday, Yahoo has redesigned several key Internet services and started to spruce up its applications for mobile devices. That has helped persuade Web surfers to stay on Yahoo’s website for longer periods, enabling the company to sell just enough advertising to end a steady decline in its revenue that began at the end of 2008.

Although that slump is over, Yahoo’s revenue growth has been negligible so far while rivals Google and Facebook have continued to post increases in the 20 percent to 40 percent range.

Mayer, a former Google executive, has urged investors to be patient while describing her turnaround plan as a “series of sprints” that will take several years to finish.

Mayer has promised that Yahoo’s revenue growth will eventually outpace the overall Internet ad market, without providing a specific timeline for attaining that goal.

Yahoo’s stock has soared by 75 per cent since Mayer became CEO, but most of those gains have been tied to the company’s stake in Alibaba, a rapidly growing Internet company in China. In a deal completed last year, Yahoo got $7.6 billion by selling nearly half its stake in Alibaba. Selling the remaining Alibaba holdings could bring in another $20 billion, before taxes, to Yahoo within the next few years, based on the calculations of Macquarie Capital analyst Ben Schachter.