The troubled Internet pioneer’s stock is up 20% since the former Google executive took the helm at Yahoo in July.
“Her appointment has been taken largely positively by the markets,” said IDC analyst Karsten Weide.
Shares of Yahoo rose 1% to $18.76 on Monday. The stock touched on a two-and-a-half-year high of $19 in intraday trading.
Yahoo’s chief executive spot has been a revolving door. Mayer became the fifth person to take the role in just five years as the Internet icon has struggled to turn around its business.
Yahoo’s display advertising has suffered massive declines as rivals Google and Facebook made inroads. At the same time, Yahoo’s search business has struggled to compete against Google.
Mayer’s appointment as CEO has won favor among industry experts. She has been hailed as one with credentials among the tech ranks and for taking steps in the right direction to turn around the wayward company, including an emphasis on mobile technology.
Mayer appears to be “internally motivating the employees” and the general sense is that she is “going in the right direction,” Weide says.
Yahoo’s stock has also likely gotten a lift from the company’s plan to buy back shares. Yahoo sold roughly half of its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba to net $4.3 billion after taxes so that it could fund the share repurchases.
Credit: USAToday
