Traders are buying shares of Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) Tuesday
afternoon ahead of the company's first-quarter earnings report, due
after the market close. The stock seems to be holding above the $15
level.
Analysts on the Street are expecting Yahoo! to report quarterly
earnings of 17 cents per share on sales of $1.06 billion. If the
company can hit these estimates, profit would be flat from the same
quarter last year but down about 30 percent from the 24 cents per
share reported last quarter.
Data from StreetInsider.com's
Earnings History
page suggests Yahoo! has beaten analyst's estimates by nearly 10
percent over the last four quarters.
The Street is mostly neutral on Yahoo! shares heading into the
quarterly report. Bloomberg data shows nine firms rate the stock a
Buy, 23 firms rate the stock at Hold or the equivalent, and three
firms suggest selling the stock. Analyst price targets currently
range from $14 to $22.
Shares of Yahoo! have fallen about 6 percent so far in 2012,
reversing a second-half 2011 rally.
Analyst Comments:
-
Deutsche Bank
- Recently adjusted FY12 EPS estimate from 80 cents to 81 cents
and sales from $4.341 billion to $4.272 billion following news on
April 4th of a
restructuring
. The firm said the job cuts were the "first step in the CEO's
attempt to right-size the business." Although Deutsche Bank liked
the move, the firm said "we believe there is more work to be done
in terms of driving revenue growth."
The firm said it will be focused on online advertising spending
by large brand marketers, "especially as the ad market begins to
show signs of recovery."
Deutsche Bank maintains a Hold rating and $15 price target into
Yahoo!'s results.
-
BGC Partners
- Looking for EPS of 19 cents on sales of $1.059 billion. BGC is
expecting continued pressure on display growth amid
"audience-buying efforts from Google, and competition from
Facebook..." The firm called the current transition away from
Search as "a painful process in 2012."
Related to the company's turnaround, BGC felt similarly as
Deutsche Bank, saying: "layoffs and restructuring announced, now
its time for vision."
The firm maintains a Hold rating on the stock.
Yahoo! typically reports just after the market close, usually not
later than 4:05pm ET. Stay tuned to our
Earnings
category to get the breaking news within seconds of the official
release. Yahoo! will host its conference call at 5pm ET. The live
Webcast of Yahoo!'s earnings call can be accessed at
http://investor.yahoo.com
.