Yahoo's Fate Could be Decided Today

Today is a big day at Yahoo (YHOO)- today it is the day of the profit reports , which may decide would Microsoft (MSFT) raise it's bid or not.

Later this afternoon Yahoo shall reveal it's first quarter earnings. In January, Yahoo forecast first-quarter advertising sales ranging from $1.28 billion to $1.38 billion, excluding the revenue it shares with partners. Wall Street analysts expect actual revenue to hit $1.32 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

According to Collins Stewart's analyst, Sandeep Aggarwal : "Microsoft is not acquiring Yahoo for a quarter. It is acquiring Yahoo because Google is reaching a place where it will be difficult to challenge."

It surely looks like (MFST) is afraid of Google's growing power and might and In my humble opinion have a darn good reason to do so : Besides basically monopoly on search result and web advertising, MS is even more afraid of growing popularity of web based apps - something that can shatter the sales of Microsoft's golden goose - Microsoft Office. Everyone uses Word and Excel, right? Do you have any idea how much Standard or god forbid , Professional office costs ???

Source:
http://origin.mercurynews.com/business/ci_9011300

UPDATE: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Tuesday that Yahoo Inc.'s (YHOO) upcoming earnings report won't change the tech giant's current bid for the Web portal. Ballmer indicated that Microsoft will stand by its offer to buy Yahoo for $31 a share even if the Internet company's results impress or disappoint Wall Street.
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