Whoever emerges victorious from a monthslong bidding battle to purchase Yahoo Inc. will face the difficult task of whittling down a company burdened by one of the the highest cost structures in its corner of the technology sector, analysts say.
Once the go-to gateway to the Internet, Yahoo tried to be to be all things to all people -- from search to shopping to news outlet to blogging hub. Spending ballooned on acquisitions and recruiting in an effort to offset declining sales as ad revenue was siphoned off by competitors. Now Yahoo squeezes far fewer sales from each employee than its peers and its core services are on the auction block.
Alphabet Inc., Google's parent, had $315,948 in sales per worker in the first quarter while Facebook Inc. garnered almost $400,000. For Yahoo, that figure was less than $116,000. Even the traditionally beefier telecom companies are lean compared with Yahoo. Verizon Communications Inc. counts $185,637 in sales per employee and AT&T Inc. reaps $144,319.
While Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer has already eliminated thousands of jobs over the course of her 4-year tenure, Yahoo's new leaders will likely cut at least another 3,000 positions, according to analysts, depending on which buyer the company might attract.
"We still think it has some bloated costs that could be taken out," said Robert Peck, an analyst with Suntrust Robinson Humphrey Inc., who rates the stock a hold.
Cutting 1,000 more jobs would bring the revenue-per-employee number in line with Verizon's AOL, according to a note Peck wrote earlier this year. A strategic buyer such as Verizon or AT&T could reduce headcount by an additional 3,000, Peck said, because of potentially redundant operations in areas such as human resources or marketing. At that level, Yahoo would be among the smallest members of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
In what may end up being her last earnings call at Yahoo, Mayer presented the company's second-quarter results Monday, a loss of $439.9 million, or 46 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 9 cents per share.
The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 10 cents per share.
Revenue was $1.31 billion. After subtracting Yahoo's advertising commissions, revenue was $841.2 million, which beat Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $835.5 million.
A spokesman for Yahoo declined to comment.
Yahoo shares rose 23 cents to close Monday at $37.95 before the quarterly report was released. They had gained 13 percent so far this year.
Activist investor SpringOwl Asset Management said headcount reductions should shrink the company to 3,000 people, according to a proposal late last year. Such a reduction could be achieved by scaling back efforts in search -- along with spending on general corporate expenses -- or eliminating more employees overseas, according to SpringOwl managing Director Eric Jackson. He later said that reducing the company to 4,000 to 5,000 people would also be acceptable. Yahoo had 9,400 employees at the end of the first quarter.
In February, Mayer announced plans to cut staff by about 15 percent this year as part of a new focus on efficiency that also included office closures, and shutting down some products. Since then, more than 1,000 jobs have been eliminated, but the full financial benefits of those cuts may not be realized until the second or third quarters, Chief Financial Officer Ken Goldman said in May.
Even with a full 15 percent reduction in staff from the start of the first quarter, Yahoo would still be more bloated than its rivals and potential telecom suitors.
A change in ownership could come soon. Along with AT&T and Verizon, other suitors submitting bids Monday are expected to include Quicken Loans Inc.
While each suitor has its own plans for what to do with its Yahoo spoils, there's little doubt that streamlining will be part of everyone's priorities.
Sameet Sinha, an analyst with B. Riley & Co., said the revenue-per-employee is a "crucial" metric. Mayer "got so many chances to get the numerator up," he said.
Throughout her tenure, Mayer faced pressure from shareholders, most notably Starboard Value LP, to get spending under control. In a January letter to Yahoo's board, Starboard cited annual operating costs that increased by about $500 million over Mayer's tenure, and $2.3 billion in acquisitions. Even with the threat of a proxy war looming, Mayer continued to spend, including about $17 million for the rights to the National Football League's first streaming-only game broadcast, and about $200 million for shopping site Polyvore Inc.
As a result, Yahoo's gross margins -- a key measure of efficiency at any company -- fell 14 percent to 53 percent in the first quarter. That trails margins of 62 percent at Google and Facebook at 84 percent.
One way to improve the employee efficiency ratio would be to drive up sales -- but Mayer hasn't delivered there either. Overall revenue fell 11 percent to $1.09 billion during the first three months of the year, the poorest showing in the first quarter since 2004. The decline was even sharper, 18 percent, when sales to partners aren't included.
"She's had four years," said Brett Harriss, an analyst for Gabelli & Co. in Rye, N.Y. "That's a reasonable amount of time to expect a chief executive to make material operating changes."
Information for this article was contributed by Alex Sherman of Bloomberg News.
Business on 07/19/2016