Yahoo Gets Stock Boost From “Outperform” Rating
March 9, 2010
Although this turned out to be a pretty "meh" day for the stock market as a whole - the Dow and S&P 500 slipped a little bit, while the Nasdaq didn't gain much - Yahoo investors should be feeling pleased. Yahoo's stock rose by a significant amount as an analyst rated it "market outperform," up from "market perform."
Sameet Sinha of JMP Securities is the man who's responsible for making that change, and he attributed the move to Yahoo's relationship with Microsoft. Sinha indicated that other experts will come to think better of the company, too, as additional financial models incorporate the deal.
Then here's another, more concrete, detail: Sinha set a price target of $21. Since Yahoo's stock hasn't been that high since July of 2008, that would be a significant level.
As for the current price of Yahoo's stock, it's been very much on the move. It rose 2.86 percent during the trading day, taking it from $16.06 to $16.52.
Again, then, this was a good day for Yahoo's shareholders. Google's shareholders lost a small amount of money, meanwhile (its stock decreased 0.31 percent), and Microsoft's shareholders made an even smaller amount (its stock rose 0.15 percent).
Yahoo Loses Patent Infringement Case, $12.4 Million
February 3, 2010
IMVironments - the little background themes for Yahoo Messenger - have gotten Yahoo in a lot of trouble. The company's lost a patent infringement case that concerns them, and as a result, is supposed to pay a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation $12.4 million.
With no offense intended to Yahoo's lawyers, it's safe to say that the odds never favored a Yahoo victory; a few details strongly imply that Acacia's a patent troll. Take, for example, the fact that the case was tried in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas - a spot known for favoring plaintiffs.
Acacia's homepage also says a lot, since ten of the eleven "Recent News" items relate to patents and litigation.
Then here's one very telling fact that Rachael King recently discovered while researching the company: "Acacia has filed at least 337 patent-related lawsuits in its 18 years."
Anyway, Yahoo now has to fork over $12.4 million, and Acacia should also benefit from an ongoing royalty rate of 23 percent for all Yahoo IMVironments sales.
On the bright side, Yahoo's stock is up a tiny bit this morning, even as the Dow and Nasdaq are heading down. Hat tip goes to Robin Wauters.
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Baidu’s Stock Rises On Analysts’ Comments
February 2, 2010
The odds of Google leaving China appear to have been raised today. Two financial experts made positive comments about Baidu, and while neither issued any carved-in-stone predictions about its competitor departing, investors are now buying more shares of the Chinese company's stock.
For what it's worth, Credit Suisse analyst Wallace Cheung actually believes Google will stay in China. But he thinks Baidu stands to gain from the ongoing commotion regardless of whether it stays or goes, and so upgraded his rating on Baidu's shares from "underperform" to "neutral."
Susquehanna Financial Group analyst C. Ming Zhao, meanwhile, thinks it's looking more likely that Google will pull out, and according to Eric Savitz, also took a moment to compliment Baidu's new Phoenix Nest ad auction system. Zhao set a price target of $520 as a result.
Some investors have had their say, too, of course, as we mentioned earlier. Baidu's stock rose 3.39 percent today, while the Dow, Nasdaq, and Google achieved increases of just 1.17 percent, 1.11 percent, and 0.58 percent, respectively.
So now we're left to wait and see what happens. Hopefully Google and the Chinese government won't keep everyone waiting for too long.
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Microsoft Reports Great Quarter, Credits Windows 7
January 29, 2010
Don't be shocked if one or more shrines to Windows 7 are erected in Redmond today. Microsoft released its quarterly earnings report this afternoon, and thanks in large part to the new operating system, the company's numbers look quite good.
Analysts thought Microsoft might report something like $17.84 billion in revenue and earnings per share of 59 cents. Microsoft overshot those forecasts by a significant amount, posting $19.12 billion and 74 cents, instead.
That puts the company up 14 percent and 57 percent, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. And it would be an understatement to say that victories of this nature don't occur every day, particularly given our economy's current condition.
So if you're happy (and as you'll see in a minute, investors are), think well of Windows 7. A record for Windows units was set last quarter, and Peter Klein, Microsoft's CFO, said in a statement, "Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company. Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth."
Unfortunately for Microsoft, things didn't go so well in every respect. The Online Services Business lost a whopping $466 million, which makes for a significantly worse performance than last year (when it lost $320 million).
Then, one other possible cause for skittishness is the fact Microsoft hasn't yet given any guidance. Windows 7 can't sell well forever, after all.
Still, investors have received Microsoft's news with open arms and fists full of dollars. Even though the Dow and Nasdaq both sank today (by 1.13 percent and 1.91 percent), Microsoft's stock is up 1.47 percent in after-hours trading.
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