Yahoo's new CEO, Marissa Mayer, was absent from the company's quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, disappointing any analysts who might have been hoping for an early clue about the direction she will chart for the company.
Yahoo CFO Tim Morse, who was acting CEO for a short time after the departure of Carol Bartz, led the call instead. Mayer needed time to get up to speed with the company, Morse said. That's not surprising, considering Tuesday was her first day on the job.
He said he didn't know if Mayer would address investors before Yahoo's next quarterly call.
Yahoo announced on Monday that the longtime Google executive would take over as its CEO. She replaces Scott Thompson, who stepped down after it was revealed that his rA(c)A3AumA(c)A A$?id not accurately match his credentials.
"We're very happy to have such a top-notch CEO in place," Morse said.
Yahoo's financial results were somewhat unremarkable. Revenue and profit both fell slightly from a year earlier, though earnings before one-time charges were ahead of Wall Street expectations.
On the earnings call, Yahoo said its search and advertising alliance with Microsoft continued to underperform. Under the Search Alliance, the companies collaborate on search and share advertising revenue. Microsoft had not made "an encouraging amount of progress" to boost Yahoo's revenue per search, Morse said.
A round of layoffs initiated under Thompson's leadership cost Yahoo US$88 million in severance payments this quarter, according to Morse.