Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) will be reporting Q3 data after the bell today. Is the market excited over the Internet portal's prospects? Well, judging by the price action I'm seeing on my screen right now, I'd have to say the answer is a definite no. The stock is down 1.7% as I write this in early afternoon trading.
According to Earnings.com, Yahoo!, whose colleagues include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), is expected to say it made 7 cents per share in the third quarter. That won't be so great, since it will represent an earnings decline compared to last year's income stat. Of course, we should remember that it won't be just about the earnings per share. We'll have to hear what management has to say about future prospects.
Which I don't have a lot of faith in. I mean, is Yahoo! going to say anything today that will make me think that it has put together an adequate, comprehensive plan for future growth? Doubtful.
Maybe I'm too pessimistic. And in terms of whether or not management will beat analyst projections, I should probably be a believer in the company's ability to win the game. After all, tech has been doing well lately. Google defeated Wall Street in its latest quarter. So did International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) in its report. And let's not forget that Yahoo! did well against estimates back in July.
Yahoo! isn't my favorite company out there, though, so I'm not buying ahead of today's release. Last time around, the stock sold off in the after-hours session. No, history isn't guaranteed to repeat itself. But, in this case, I'll take it as a useful guide and won't be making any moves with the shares.
Louis Navellier back in August rated Yahoo! a hold. He showed some concern for the portal's fundamentals. I think he's correct. We'll have to see what happens. Hopefully shareholders get some good news today, as well as a nice bid. Mostly, though, investors want to receive some meaningful, insightful points on corporate strategy. Alas, I'm not willing to bet they'll get any...
Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.
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