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Posted
Jun 13 2008, 09:41 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Any way you look at it, yesterday was a dark day for Yahoo. The stock crumbled 10% after the company confirmed a Microsoft deal was dead. Three key Yahoos announced they were leaving, adding to the ongoing employee exodus. Yahoo announced an advertising sales deal with Google, but it wasn't significant enough to sway angry shareholders. The company's stock isn't faring any better today -- down 6% on heavy volume to $22.14 at 11 a.m. PST.
We won't see the full implications of Yahoo's moves for a while. Clearly, Yahoo needed breathing room, and outsourcing some search business to Google accomplishes that. Yahoo gets Microsoft and Carl Icahn off its back and can figure out a new strategy -- and it gets a new source of short-term revenue. But Yahoo has let Google in the front door, and now risks the possibility
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Posted
Jun 12 2008, 01:04 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Some of that stampeding sound on the Street today came from Yahoo investors running for the exits. Shares of the company are down 11% on huge volume to $23.37 after the company said all merger talks with Microsoft are dead. Microsoft had zero interest in renewing any talks, according to a Yahoo statement. Microsoft shares are up 4% today to $28.29.
Yahoo and Google are reportedly set to announce some sort of partnership this afternoon. Stay tuned.
Update: Yahoo hired Google in a nonexclusive deal to sell some online ads in the U.S. and Canada.
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Posted
Apr 21 2008, 12:10 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Looks like eBay is dusting off the "for sale" sign for Skype, and it's about time. The Internet calling division said today it's offering almost-unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada for $3 a month. (Calls to other countries will be $10 a month; click here for more info). I say almost because there's a 10,000 minute-per-month limit, which is more than five hours of calling a day.
Ebay has Skype under the microscope because it still hasn't figured out what to do with the company after buying it for $2.6 billion in 2005. Skype is a superstar on its own, with 309 million users and sales likely to hit $500 million this year. But meshing it with auctions? Hasn't worked. CEO John Donahoe said eBay will be testing Skype's "synergies" this year. But if the company hasn't found synergies in three years, why would it magically happen now?
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Posted
Apr 18 2008, 01:43 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Apple once again topped BusinessWeek's annual list of the 50 most innovative companies. And it's hard to argue with that call, what with the iPhone and the MacBook Air debuting in the last year. But I think Google is on pace to beat Apple when it comes to innovation, with its emphasis on creativity and pet products and its entry into markets like renewable energy and telecommunications. Let's see Apple top that this next year. Google is #2 on the list. Here's the rest of the top 10:
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Posted
Apr 11 2008, 12:09 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
My, how things can change in a week. Last Friday, Microsoft was putting the screws to Yahoo, telling Reuters it was "evaluating" its $31-a-share bid for the company because Yahoo has dropped in value. This week, a furious round of wheeling and dealing has given Yahoo the edge. I have to hand it to CEO Jerry Yang. His flirtation with AOL and Google is putting incredible pressure on Microsoft to raise its offer. The market seems to like where all this is headed: Yahoo shares are
up slightly from where they started the week and closed today at $28.34. The Street seems to think a Microsoft acquisition is still the most likely scenario, and Yahoo shares are up because of a general belief that Yang can extract more money out of the deal. And while things today may appear murkier than ever, this corporate drama seems to be careening (wildly, perhaps) to some sort of closure, possibly in the next week.
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Posted
Mar 26 2008, 12:10 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Filed under: Google, Comcast, Time Warner, Sprint, wireless, Intel, Verizon, AT&T, Kim Peterson, Clearwire, WiMax
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Lots of big numbers are being tossed around today in support of WiMax, a wireless technology that can deliver high-speed Internet access over several miles. Clearwire is a leader in developing WiMax, and has been trying to hammer out a partnership with Sprint for months. But working out a deal hasn't been easy, partly because building out WiMax is so expensive and partly because both companies have their own struggles to deal with.
Now, the two biggest U.S. cable companies are stepping in with loads of cash. According to the Wall Street Journal, Comcast and Time Warner are talking about funding a new WiMax company, one that would be run by Sprint and Clearwire. The company would operate a nationwide WiMax network. Comcast is reportedly offering $1 billion and Time Warner is adding $500 million. Bright House Networks, a small cable company, might pony up between $100 million and $200 million.
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Posted
Mar 14 2008, 12:23 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Yahoo seems to be dropping its anyone-but-Microsoft merger attitude. Senior executives from both companies met on Monday to discuss Microsoft's cash-and-stock acquisition offer, although "discuss" might be too strong a word, since the Yahoos "mostly listened," according to the WSJ.
Yahoo had a duty to shareholders to at least hear Microsoft out, now that its list of possible alternatives is down to pretty much zero. AOL is busy with its $850 million acquisition of social networking site Bebo. Rupert Murdoch says News Corp. is staying out. Google lost its initial enthusiasm about thwarting the bid.
It's unclear how serious the meeting was. No bankers attended and no negotiation took place. We don't even know if the CEOs were there. But the official silence has been broken. Yahoo shares fell nearly 3% today to $26.71 on the news, and Microsoft shares are down nearly 2.3% to $27.96.
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Posted
Mar 04 2008, 12:24 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
The Google freefall hit a notable mark today: its shares are trading lower than where they ended 2006. Shares slid as low as $435.78, but closed today at $444.60. That's down by a third since November; the company's market cap has dropped during that time to $140 billion from $232 billion.
Give Intel some of the blame. The chipmaker lowered its Q1 profit margin forecast, and when Intel does that it drags the whole tech sector down. There was also news today that one of Google's top sales execs is jumping ship for social-networking darling Facebook.
But bigger issues are felling Google -- concerns about slowing revenue and profit growth, and about the economy affecting Google's paid click business. A report out last week by research firm ComScore showed a 7% drop in the number of times people clicked on Google's advertising links in January. The number of paid clicks per Google search query fell by 8%.
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