After word on Monday that Yahoo’s new CEO is planning a “massive restructuring,” one analyst said the move was long overdue.
Benjamin Schachter, an Internet analyst at Macquarie, said that no quick turnaround was expected for the company. He held a $17 price target for the stock and a “neutral” rating.
AllThingsD reported what could be ahead to the $17 billion company.
“According to multiple sources both inside and outside the Silicon Valley Internet giant, Yahoo’s CEO Scott Thompson is preparing a massive restructuring of the company, including layoffs that are likely to number in the thousands,” wrote reporter Kara Swisher.
Schachter took a wait-and-see approach.
“Outside of the Asia assets, the real problem is Yahoo’s search business. As people are accessing the Internet through mobile devices, there’s really no point to using Yahoo Search, and that’s by far their most profitable business,” he said.
For now, shares of Yahoo were in something of a holding pattern.
“This whole stock really depends on the Asia assets,” Schachter said. “Do you believe that they can figure out a way to get the full value out of those assets in a tax-efficient way? If you do, you own this stock and it’s going to go higher. If you don’t believe that — and I don’t right now because they’ve been trying to do it for so long — I just can’t recommend the shares right now.”
Yahoo shares closed at $14.62, down 0.7 percent.
Steve Grasso of Stuart Frankel wasn’t a buyer.
“There’s not enough space in the tech world for Yahoo to be attractive right here,” he said.
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