Yahoo: As Share Price Lags Peers, Time to Lever Up and Shrink Equity

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Long Investment

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Media Tech Analyst submits:

Yahoo!’s (YHOO) shares are down 4% in the past month versus a 10%, 8%, and 7%, improvement for Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and the S&P 500, respectively. The shares are cheap, trading at a low 5x 2010 EBITDA versus 13x for Google and lower than traditional media and entertainment companies that are trading in the high single digits.

My DCF on the stock points to a $22 value for the shares over the next 12 months, a full 38% appreciation from where the shares are trading today. Wall Street analysts are bullish, with only 2 sell ratings, and with several major investment banks recently changing their recommendations to buy, with price targets in the low $20s.

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Yahoo or Baidu? The Choice Is Clear

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Long Investment

Mark Krieger submits:

Believe it or not, Baidu’s market cap of $15 billion is quickly approaching Yahoo’s stock value of $23 billion.

YHOO is currently being priced at the market at only 1.5 times that of BIDU yet, in an “apples to apples” comparison, blatant discrepancies stand out. YHOO is expected to generate $5 billion in sales and $700 million in earnings, while BIDU is forecasted to produce a top line of $900 million and earnings of $309 million (assumes a staggering 44% growth rate). The point is, YHOO’s sales are almost six times higher, while its earnings are triple that of BIDU. Therefore, it is reasonable to deduce that YHOO’s market cap should be three times that of BIDU, not one and half. There are inefficiencies between these two equities that should be exploited before the market eventually recognizes this abnormilty and prices them accordingly.

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Yahoo Gains Respect, Credibility as News Outlet

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Editor’s Pick

Sam Diaz submits:

Yahoo (YHOO), it appears, is discovering what news media companies have known for generations. Producing original quality editorial content, others will notice – whether readers, other news outlets or even advertisers. And by grabbing that sort of attention, the company also gains some credibility.

During a presentation at Yahoo’s Analyst Day, company execs talked about the new respect that Yahoo Sports has received by breaking news, landing exclusive interviews and even creating original, on-the-fly content to accompany video clips or other daily highlights. (Techmeme)

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Yahoo: Can We Please Have Jerry Back?

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Michael Arrington submits:

Last November we all knew Yahoo (YHOO) cofounder Jerry Yang would be stepping down after a disastrous tenure as CEO. He spurned Microsoft (MSFT) without realizing the consequences, and he had no ability to describe an alternate path for the company. We weren’t alone in calling for his dismissal, and the hope was that Yahoo would find the right leader to restore their former glory. They didn’t.

In the few months between Jerry’s resignation and the beginning of the Carol Bartz era at Yahoo, there was much speculation in Silicon Valley about who might lead the once great company. People I spoke with thought Yahoo would go one of two ways. The first would be to try to find the great product visionary to lead the company forward. Their Bill Gates or Steve Jobs (Mark Zuckerberg may someday be on that list). With the right product vision Yahoo could push boldly into new territory and renew its bid to create a lasting brand and company. The second way to go would be to hire someone to sell the company, whole or in parts, and maximize shareholder value in the short run.

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Yahoo Insiders Should Be Shown the Door Out

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Editor’s Pick

Does a leopard change its spots? Not at Yahoo! (YHOO); every director and officer there seems to have a congenital affliction that is forcing them to withdraw as much compensation as they can from the shareholders like a personal ATM.

The company’s always had a laissez-faire approach to compensation. A techie friend from the Valley explained it to me this way: "Hey, it’s tech. It’s how we’ve always done it. We have a war for talent out here. Where would we be as a company if we didn’t pay so much?"

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Yahoo’s New Search Interface? That’s Bing to You

Andy Beal submits:

It’s not really a secret that Yahoo (YHOO) has given up on search. If handing the keys to the car over to Microsoft didn’t give it away, then the next step would be to run TV ads saying “We’ve! Given! Up! on Search!”–yeah, complete with those annoying exclamation marks, Yahoo! likes! to! use!

So, Yahoo really isn’t fooling anyone with the announced testing of a new search engine interface. Sure, superficially we get to see lots of cool new features such as “show results from” filters, social media content, video playback within search results, and a whole host of new whistles and bells, but it’s nothing more than prepping for surgery. In this case, the surgical implanting of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing.

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Yahoo Buys Maktoob Arabic Portal, Adds 16 Million Internet Users

James Rickman submits:

In a deal worth potentially $95 million, Yahoo (YHOO) announced today the purchase of Maktoob, an Arabic portal with 16 million users in United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The move by Yahoo almost doubles its current 20 million users base giving it access to one in three Internet users in the emerging oil rich Arab markets. Estimates are that only one percent of the online content is in Arabic despite the 320 million Arabic speakers.

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Yahoo Acquires Arab Internet Portal Maktoob

Jason Kincaid submits:

Yahoo (YHOO) has just officially acquired Maktoob, a very popular Arabic web portal that offers services including search, payments, social network, and auctions. Rumors of an aquisition have been building for months, and in the last hour they reached a head as news of an impending press conference broke. The price hasn’t been announced, but our sources say $85 million.

The MaktoobBusiness Twitter account notes that the deal will unite “Yahoo’s 20 million users from the Arab world with Maktoob’s 16 million”, with Vice President Ahmed Nassef stating that it will bring “a sea change in the industry.”

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Yahoo, Late to the Game, Adds ‘Status-Casting’ to Mail and Messenger

Erick Schonfeld submits:

When you are late to the game, trying to rename it doesn’t win you any points. Monday, Yahoo (YHOO) announced that it is finally adding basic status updates to its Mail and Messenger products, which it is calling “status-casting.” In both Yahoo Mail and Messenger 10, you can update your status and all of your contacts who also use either of those two products can see your updates. You can also choose to see your friends’ updates from a variety of social media sites across the Web—such as Yelp, YouTube, and Twitter— right in your Mail homepage or IM stream.

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Yahoo Hopes to Take People Search Away from Google

Erick Schonfeld submits:

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz may be under the impression that Yahoo (YHOO) has “never been a search company,” but at its “What Matters Most” product update Monday, search was definitely front and center. One of the demos showed a new, upcoming search homepage.

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