Yahoo shares reach 18-month high as investors warm to new CEO
Marissa Mayer's appointment appears to have buoyed Yahoo investors.

Yahoo shares reached their highest level in a year and a half, as investor confidence grows that new CEO Marissa Mayer can pull off a comeback that eluded three of her predecessors.
The internet pioneer has yet to actually provide Wall Street with any hard evidence that its business is turning a corner - and she has warned that it will be a lengthy job - but investor faith in the ex-Google executive is running high.
Hedge funds Tiger Global Management and Greenlight Capital Management recently disclosed large stakes in Yahoo, accumulated during the third quarter.
"Money managers are staring to want to own this name again," said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners.
"For the amount of traffic they have, and the assets they have, they should be able to squeeze some value out of that," Gillis said, referring to Yahoo.
Google people wouldn't be following her if they didn't think she had some good cards to play.
With Mayer at the helm, he said, Yahoo has "finally got somebody who the market believes can do that."
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Gravity Capital Management's Adam Seessel said that Mayer's recruitment of various Google employees, including recently hired Yahoo chief operating officer Henrique de Castro, has also helped burnish Yahoo's image.
"What the market is seeing is not (financial) numbers so much as they're seeing people voting with their feet, people moving from Google to Yahoo," said Seessel, whose firm owns Yahoo shares.
"All these people from Google wouldn't be following her if they didn't think that she didn't have some good cards to play," he said.
Shares of Yahoo finished Monday's regular trading session up 2.8 per cent at $18.36, amid a broad market rally. The last time Yahoo traded above $18.30 was in May 2011.
Yahoo ranks among the world's most popular websites, with roughly 700 million monthly visitors. But the company's revenue has eroded, amid competition from Google and Facebook and an industry-wide change in the online advertising market that has compressed prices for the online display ads that are key to its business.
The company has been rocked by internal turmoil: CEO Carol Bartz was fired over the phone and CEO Scott Thompson left after less than six months on the job due to questions about his academic credentials. Mayer, Google's first female engineer, took the top job at Yahoo in July.
In a conference call with investors last month, Mayer said that making Yahoo's online products more smartphone-friendly was her top priority.
ITPro is a global business technology website providing the latest news, analysis, and business insight for IT decision-makers. Whether it's cyber security, cloud computing, IT infrastructure, or business strategy, we aim to equip leaders with the data they need to make informed IT investments.
For regular updates delivered to your inbox and social feeds, be sure to sign up to our daily newsletter and follow on us LinkedIn and Twitter.
-
Security experts issue warning over the rise of 'gray bot' AI web scrapers
News While not malicious, the bots can overwhelm web applications in a way similar to bad actors
By Jane McCallion Published
-
Does speech recognition have a future in business tech?
Once a simple tool for dictation, speech recognition is being revolutionized by AI to improve customer experiences and drive inclusivity in the workforce
By Jonathan Weinberg Published
-
Demis Hassabis: The man behind Google DeepMind commits to ethical AI
News As DeepMind comes under Google's stewardship, we take a look at its leader and why he took the job
By Rory Bathgate Published
-
Mozilla re-hires veteran Mitchell Baker to serve as CEO
News The interim chair and CEO formally rejoins the organisation after Chris Beard stepped down in December 2019
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet Published
-
Google right to be forgotten rule extends to Bing & Yahoo
News The EU’s controversial right to be forgotten ruling against Google will now also apply to Yahoo and Bing
By Caroline Preece Published
-
Firefox to switch default search engine from Google to Yahoo
News Mozilla signs five-year agreement with Yahoo
By Khidr Suleman Published
-
Russia dismantles Steve Jobs memorial after Tim Cook comes out
News A Steve Jobs memorial has been taken down after the current CEO announced he's gay
By Clare Hopping Published
-
Google CEO calls on European governments to invest more in tech
News Larry Page said European governments are not doing enough to develop technology
By Clare Hopping Published
-
Google and Microsoft to discuss Right to be Forgotten
News The two tech companies have been invited alongside Yahoo to converse with EU privacy officials
By Clare Hopping Published
-
iOS 8 abandons Yahoo weather app
News iOS 8 is to drop Yahoo for its weather app in favour of The Weather Channel
By Caroline Preece Published