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Yahoo! Inc.

5/21/2013, 1:18 PM ET

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Tuesday, May 21, 10:46 AM Oppenheimer raises estimates for Yahoo (YHOO +1.5%) and lifts its PT to $30, and BMO raises its PT to $27. Both cite Alibaba IPO expectations - Oppenheimer previously gave Alibaba a $77B valuation. Also, on the Yahoo/Tumblr front: 1) Marissa Mayer says Tumblr could see premium ads and retargeted ads (i.e. ads based on browsing activity on other sites). 2) A source tells Valleywag Tumblr's 2012 revenue was under $5M, below prior reports of $13M. 3) Instapaper developer/early Tumblr employee Marco Arment provides high praise for Tumblr CEO David Karp. "I’ve only seen one other 'product person' as good as David, and that was Steve Jobs." (previous) Comment! [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 5:55 PM Yahoo (YHOO) shows off a big overhaul for Flickr on a day when Tumblr is dominating headlines. The new Flickr site dedicates a lot more real estate to images at the expense of white space, and (echoing Yahoo's home page revamp) features a Facebook-like activity feed. Yahoo is also now giving Flickr users a whopping 1TB of free storage (easily more than most rivals), and allowing 3-minute-or-shorter 1080p video uploads. Will it be enough to reverse the fortunes of a service that has become an also-ran in a very competitive online photo-sharing space? (previous) Comment! [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 12:15 PM Facebook (FB -2.1%) slides after Yahoo (YHOO +1.3%) confirms it's buying social blogging leader Tumblr, which (like Twitter) is arguably a threat to Facebook's engagement levels. In spite of its focus on personal networks, Facebook has been trying to encroach on Tumblr's turf via its support for "public" posts that can be followed by anyone. However, uptake has largely been driven by media figures, rather than regular users. In paying $1.1B for Tumblr, Yahoo is betting the platform's social features and network effects will let it become the Twitter of longer-form material. If this happens, and Tumblr isn't simply viewed as another blogging platform, the price tag could look cheap. (previous) Comment! [Tech, On the Move, M&A]
Monday, May 20, 11:23 AM Yahoo/Tumblr (YHOO +0.7%) roundup: 1) Yahoo promises Tumblr will "enhance EBITDA and revenue" next year. Marissa Mayer states Yahoo could introduce ads on Tumblr's blog feed, and also on individual blogs (with a blogger's permission). 2) Some Tumblr users aren't happy with the deal, and rival WordPress reports taking in some defectors. 3) Yahoo claims Tumblr gets 75M new blog posts each day, and that over half its mobile users are using its apps. 4) In criticizing the deal, John Saroff argues traditional display ads don't suit Tumblr well. John Batelle thinks that's fine, since Tumblr is great for native ads. (previous) Comment! [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 8:13 AM Yahoo (YHOO) confirms its deal to acquire Tumblr for $1.1B in cash. "Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO." Yahoo expects the combination to grow its audience by 50% and grow traffic by 20%. Up earlier, Yahoo now off 1% premarket. (PR) 4 Comments [Breaking News, Tech, M&A]
Monday, May 20, 7:57 AM Yahoo (YHOO) +1.4% premarket following its reported deal to buy Tumblr for $1.1B in cash. It's hard to justify at the current price, opinies Jefferies, noting Tumblr barely generates any revenue. Meanwhile, WordPress CEO Matt Mullenweg says defections from Tumblr to his site have soared, maybe thanks to Yahoo's history of shutting down past acquisitions like Geocities, Broadcast.com, and Del.icio.us. Comment! [Tech, M&A, On the Move]
Sunday, May 19, 1:49 PM More on Yahoo/Tumblr: Kara Swisher reports Tumblr founder/CEO David Karp "will stay at Yahoo for four years at least and retain much control over the service." There are concerns about how Yahoo will deal with Tumblr's mountains of adult content without alienating either users or advertisers; Peter Kafka argues they're overblown, since marketers decide which blogs to advertise on. Discussing comparisons between Tumblr and Yahoo's failed 1999 acquisition of Geocities, Tristan Louis notes Tumblr has seen top execs jump ship. But he adds Geocities faltered in part because a flood of ads drove users away; Tumblr seems to be avoiding that pitfall. 6 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Sunday, May 19, 12:25 PM Yahoo's (YHOO) board has approved a $1.1B all-cash deal to acquire Tumblr, the WSJ reports. (previous) 24 Comments [Tech, M&A, Breaking News]
Friday, May 17, 8:08 PM Yahoo (YHOO) update: The board will meet Sunday night to decide on a $1.1B all-cash deal for Tumblr, according to AllThingsD. (earlier) 3 Comments [Tech, Breaking News]
Friday, May 17, 7:18 PM Yahoo's (YHOO) NYC event will be focused on Flickr updates rather than Tumblr, Bloomberg reports. This, of course, doesn't preclude a Tumblr deal from being announced at some other time. Marissa Mayer reportedly doubled the size of long-neglected Flickr's engineering team last summer, and new Flickr apps have launched to positive reviews. However, Flickr's online photo market share is now well below that of Facebook/Instagram. 2 Comments [Tech]
Friday, May 17, 4:17 PM More on Yahoo/Tumblr: Forbes' Jeff Bercovici reports talks are "proceeding rapidly and likely to result in an offer" as soon as Marissa Mayer can get board approval. He adds Mayer would prefer an acquisition over some other kind of deal, and is trying to allay Tumblr CEO David Karp's fears of being "absorbed into a behemoth." Tumblr is also said to have held talks with Facebook and Microsoft, but a lockup agreement with Yahoo makes them irrelevant. BI's Nicholas Carlson observes Tumblr sources who were happy to talk with him 3 weeks ago have gone silent. 2 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Friday, May 17, 4:02 PM With Tumblr speculation swirling, Yahoo (YHOO -0.3%) has scheduled a Monday evening NYC press event; CNBC reports Marissa Mayer will speak. Wells Fargo gives an overview of Tumblr's opportunities/risks. The firm notes comScore estimates Tumblr had 115M PC unique visitors in April (+85% Y/Y) and 14.5M mobile visitors (+227%), that engagement is strong, and that Tumblr is targeting $100M+ in 2013 revenue following just $13M in 2012 (ad sales are only starting to ramp). Wells thinks Yahoo could monetize Tumblr the way it did Flickr, but also points out the site has a ton of "provocative and even salacious material" that could deter brands. 2 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 11:56 PM Yahoo (YHOO) is in "serious talks" to buy social blogging service Tumblr for as much as $1B, multiple sources tell AdWeek. Kara Swisher also reports talks are happening, but is more circumspect, stating they could result in a partnership, investment, acquisition, or nothing at all. Tumblr, which claims 100M+ blogs and (as of Nov.) ~170M monthly visitors (up over 3x from Jan.), would give Yahoo a big source of user-generated content to integrate and monetize, and would strengthen its mobile presence. It would also (as Swisher notes) mesh with Yahoo's efforts to win back younger Web users. 9 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Thursday, May 16, 5:24 PM Mexico City's Superior Court of Justice lowers a damages award against Yahoo (YHOO) and Mexican subsidiary in a suit filed by 2 local companies from a surreal $2.75B to a mere $172.5K. A $2.6M award in Yahoo's favor remains unchanged. The original award, which was tied to breach-of-contract claims for a yellow pages listing service, was easily larger than the value of Yahoo's Mexican unit. (PR) Comment! [Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 12:52 PM Yahoo (YHOO -1.6%) strikes a deal with Twitter to integrate "relevant and personalized Tweets" within its home page news feed. The news feed, launched in February and now supporting ads, is a key part of Yahoo's efforts to boost slumping user engagement and display ad sales with the help of personalized content culled from a number of different sources. Comment! [Tech]
Tuesday, May 14, 12:37 PM Yahoo (YHOO +1.4%) plans to ramp its marketing spend to woo younger Web viewers who have been abandoning its sites, CFO Ken Goldman states at a JPMorgan conference. "One of our challenges is we have had an aging demographic, if you will." Goldman also suggests Yahoo could keep buying back shares after its current $5B program is finished, says the company continues to explore options for its Yahoo Japan stake, and calls the sale of half its Alibaba stake at a $35B valuation "unfortunate" - judging by the valuations now being given to Alibaba, that's a fair assessment. (earlier) Comment! [Tech]

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