Like Yahoo!, It Doesn't Matter What Facebook Reports

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- One of my favorite tech media personalities in the world is Kara Swisher from All Things D.

There's something about her snarky attitude that drives the reader and writer in me wild.

Swisher gets scoops on many stocks, but lately she's nailing Yahoo! (YHOO). She won't admit it, but I think Swisher moonlights as one of Marissa Mayer's executive assistants. For whatever reason, the otherwise sharp CEO has yet to put two and two together.

At the same time as I appreciate her coverage of Yahoo!, my snark radar goes insane every time she writes about the company.

On Monday, I took to Twitter, exchanging thoughts about Yahoo! as I do from time to time with Swisher.

Swisher took exception, not with its existence, but with the media's lack of focus on a one-time gain (from the sale of an Alibaba stake) that pushed EPS to a seemingly impressive beat.

In our discussion, Swisher argued that YHOO soared because of the "EPS fake," not Mayer's excellent conference call performance. Although she credited Mayer with doing a good job, Swisher stopped short of connecting the stock's after-hours' run -- which, as of this writing, has held up more than nicely -- with the first-time CEO's confident genius.

That's where I part ways with most people who, at day's end, appear to have no time for young and relatively aggressive CEOs like Mayer and Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg.

I say "have no time" because of the notion that Mayer's "hall pass," as Swisher called it, covers just two quarters. If Swisher is being generous, that's roughly five to six more months. If she's counting the quarter reported Monday, Mayer already lives on borrowed time.

If that's true, it's unfortunate.

I have a feeling, however, that the tide is slowly turning thanks to young blood such as Mayer and Zuckerberg.

YHOO and, to a lesser extent, FB provide proof.

These CEOs do not live and die by the numbers. Say what you will about them, but it's difficult to find more straightforward CEOs than Mayer and Zuckerberg. Listen to Yahoo!'s call from yesterday. Catch some of Zuckerberg's recent media appearances.

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