- Yahoo (YHOO) "offers an attractive way to buy BABA at a 20% discount to current levels, or 21x [estimated 2016] EPS," writes Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak (formerly with Susquehanna), who has launched coverage on Yahoo with a Buy rating and $55 target.
- MS/Nowak sees Alibaba's earnings growth accelerating to 37% in 2016 after totaling just 9% in 2015 (due to near-term margin pressures caused by aggressive spending). On that basis, he backs Morgan Stanley's $102.30 Alibaba target (set by fellow analyst Robert Lin), and values Yahoo's Alibaba stake, due to be spun off tax-free this year, at $38/share. Based on today's close of $84.58, the stake would be valued at ~$31.40/share.
- After factoring the Yahoo Japan stake, net cash, and core Yahoo, Nowak reaches a $55 sum-of-the-parts valuation. He expects core Yahoo to continue losing display and search ad share, but notes it's worth $5/share even if valued at just 4.5x estimated 2016 EBITDA.
- Thanks to yesterday afternoon's buyback announcement, Yahoo rose 1.4% today to $45.10. After the close, Yahoo disclosed it has extended the deadline for renegotiating its Microsoft search deal by 30 days. The deal lasts until 2020, but gives Yahoo the right to terminate if (among other things) its trailing 12-month U.S. revenue per search (RPS) falls below a % of Google's estimated trailing 12-month U.S. RPS (excluding mobile).