The lead news in most financial papers and at most money websites this morning is that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) will put itself through a major reorganization. It means nothing.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Yahoo executives are discussing a plan to centralize numerous product groups, such as its mail, search and home-page divisions, into a global-product organization." Several very senior executives have left the company recently.

Putting the pieces of Yahoo! into new buckets is not going to mean much. The company still faces two significant problems that cannot be changed. The first is widely known. Yahoo!'s share of the U.S. search market is down to about 20% against Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s figure of over 60%. That trend will not get better. Google has the superior product.

Perhaps worse is that the online display advertising market is not growing as fast as it was a year or two ago. Part of this has to do with the economy, but the law of large numbers is hitting the industry. It has become big enough that posting 20% plus year-over-year increases is becoming harder.

Yahoo!'s one strength is display marketing. It has built and bought larger systems to serve and target ads in an environment where those strengths may not be terribly helpful.

Yahoo! can reorganize until the cows come home.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Yahoo!'s big reorganization will do nothing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that, in an attempt to move past its takeover battle with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is planning a reorganization. People familiar with the matter said executives are discussing a plan to centralize numerous product groups into a global-product organization. Details may be announced next week.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that an internal feud at Live Nation Inc (NYSE: LYV) over strategy may soon be resolved, as the concert promoter is reportedly negotiating the exit of chairman Michael Cohl.

• A recommendation by an Australian commission to open Rio Tinto Group's (NYSE: RTP) Pilbara railway to third parties could cost $30B if the idea is implemented, Rio contended and the Australian reported. The National Competition Commission, which advises Australian governments on infrastructure issues, has suggested that Fortescue Metals Group be given access to certain rail lines operated by Rio Tinto.

• A joint investigation by CBC News and the Canadian Press found one-third of people shot by Taser International Inc's (NASDAQ: TASR) Tasers reportedly required some medical attention, Engadget reported.
• TechCrunch confirmed that Joshua Schachter, the founder of delicious, will resign from Yahoo!. Sources believe the near-stalled development of the new version of delicious may have played a part in his resignation.

Newspaper wrap-up: Yahoo! reportedly plans reorganization originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The initial consensus on Wall Street regarding IBM's (NYSE: IBM) announcement Wednesday that it would eliminate another 1,570 positions is that the effort represents another prudent action in its "reorganizational tripod" of fewer positions, cheaper positions, and reinvented positions.

Further, the reorganization effort represents nothing less than wholesale transformation of the company as it confronts the multi-directional competitive winds of the globalization era. Job eliminations bring Big Blue more in line with today's continuously right-sizing, temperature-taking business environment. Wholesale shifts of jobs to lower-cost markets -- IBM's India workforce surged to 52,000 in 2006 from a scant 9,000 in 2003 -- helps IBM make up for lost time vis-a-vis lower-cost competitors. And, perhaps most significant, IBM's operational shifts -- including rethinking how it delivers services -- create a more nimble, higher-value company that can respond to clients' needs quicker and more productively. IBM's shares closed Wednesday up $1.03 to $106.93.

Further, more position "rebalancing" may be ahead: IBM, which with Wednesday's cuts has now eliminated 3,700 positions in 2007, still has about 356,000 employees, including an eye-opening 128,000 based in the United States. And as part of those cuts, many analysts in the quarters ahead see a continued trimming of global services in favor of software, where revenue is growing faster.

Continue reading IBM: From Big Blue to Nimble Blue

IBM: From Big Blue to Nimble Blue originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 May 2007 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) will be reporting its first quarter 2007 earnings before the market opens next Tuesday (April 17). The last time the company reported earnings was back on Valentine's Day, when it was able to put up better than expected earnings for its fourth quarter 2006. At that time, the company posted earnings of $0.52, which came in higher than analyst estimates of $0.50. Sweet.

Coca-Cola has a strong history of beating Wall Street's expectations, so it would come as no surprise to me if the company is able to beat its numbers again this quarter. In fact, to find the last time that Coke was unable to post better than expected earnings, you would have to go all the way back to April 16, 2003 when it matched estimates for its first quarter 2003 report.

Continue reading Coca-Cola quarterly earnings preview: Still sweet

Coca-Cola quarterly earnings preview: Still sweet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coke shakes things up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! -- you call this reorganization? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! gets reorg, Rosensweig out, Susan Decker gets blessed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Indra Nooyi isn't even officially begun her new role as CEO of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), and already she's shaking things up. On Friday Pepsi announced Nooyi would be promoting John Compton to CEO of PepsiCo North America, effective immediately. The promotion is only part of a reorganization that morphs Pepsi into two separate divisions, both reporting directly to Nooyi: PepsiCo International and PepsiCo North America.

Bank of America analyst Bryan Spillane likes Compton in the role, but according to the Wall Street Journal [subscription required], said that Pepsi's "talent glut" might mean other executives would begin to grumble about their relative paucity of promotions and responsibilities.

Compton's background is notable for his ability to manage disparate organizations; he was responsible for the integration of Quaker Oats into PepsiCo following the 2001 merger. Nooyi won't be officially his boss until October 1, when she takes over from outgoing CEO Steven Reinemund.

Pepsi's new CEO starts in on change creation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 17 Sep 2006 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.