Getting your player ready...
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — After two years of crumbling profits, Yahoo can’t afford another letdown today when the Internet icon reports its first-quarter earnings.
Although they cover only a three-month period, the results could determine the company’s fate as it grapples with an unsolicited takeover offer from Microsoft.
If Yahoo bounces back to exceed analysts’ modest expectations, it could be a springboard to a higher bid from Microsoft or provide more credence to management’s argument that the company will be better off remaining independent.
But a disappointing quarter would intensify pressure on Yahoo to accept Microsoft’s cash- and-stock offer, which was worth about $43 billion, or $29.96 per share, as of Monday’s trading.
