Microsoft's Yahoo bid helps market overcome weak jobs data
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US stocks powered higher Friday as a blockbuster Microsoft bid for Yahoo helped Wall Street shake off a shock report showing the first decline in jobs for the US economy in over four years.
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The chance that Yahoo Inc. will put itself up for sale has increased since the most-visited US website lowered its revenue forecast, according to Stanford Group. Microsoft Corp. is a candidate to buy the company, analyst Clayton Moran said.
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After letting investors down for several quarters, Yahoo reported better than expected earnings boosted by a years-long project to improve its search advertising system.
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Yahoo Inc rejected Microsoft  Corp's unsolicited $41.6 billion takeover offer as too low on  Monday, forcing the software maker to either sweeten the bid or  adopt a hostile approach to clinch a deal.
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Yahoo Inc   rejected Microsoft Corp's  unsolicited $41.6 billion  takeover offer as too low on Monday, forcing the software maker  either to sweeten the bid or adopt a hostile approach to clinch  a deal.
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Yahoo looks for alternatives to Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
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Microsoft Corp  on Friday said  it had offered to acquire Yahoo Inc  in a proposed cash  and stock deal valued at $44.6 billion.
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At first blush, Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo for $46.6 billion is about growing its consumer advertising and portal business to better compete wit Google. And that's certainly part of the mix, but perhaps lost in the discussion is how such an acquisition could help Microsoft execute its software-plus-services strategy for delivering business apps over the Internet faster and better, said several analysts. That strategy could help Microsoft compete with Google's own business-apps initiative, they said.[ Follow InfoWorld's ongoing coverage of Microsoft's offer to buy Yahoo ]"Yahoo has very efficient datacenters, as does Microsoft," noted Rob Koplowitz, a Forrester Research analyst. By combining their datacenters -- and, more important, their engineering talent -- Microsoft should be able to move faster and more efficiently on delivering business apps over the Internet, something that Microsoft has done at a fairly slow pace so far. "Yahoo's engineers can help," he noted, "And you know that there'll be engineers who are freed up" after the acquisition, should it go through."Although Google Applications have yet to make a real dent in the Microsoft Office giant, they do pose a long-term threat," said David Mitchell, a senior IT researcher at the consultancy Ovum. "As a defense against this position, Microsoft needs to accelerate its own move into online services. The online engineering capabilities that Yahoo has will undoubtedly offer Microsoft the potential to bring new services to market" and will help Microsoft stay competitive.Koplowitz said he does not believe Microsoft is trying to buy specific technology from Yahoo to fill a hole needed to compete against Google's business offerings. Microsoft wants more talent and capacity to follow its existing strategy, he said. Google's approach is to offer pure Web-based apps, which he noted are more mature than Microsoft's Web-delivered apps. Microsoft's approach is to extend its 450 million Office desktop seats through additional software delivered via the Internet. The strategies have some overlap, but because they are different, Koplowitz expects Microsoft and Google to take different technology paths rather than try to copy each other.Microsoft's acquisition of Yahoo would also bolster the company in another area where it has fallen behind Google: search, said Charlene Yi, a Forrester analyst. "Microsoft is interested in search because it provides a beachhead into businesses -- especially small and medium-sized ones that don't have a direct relationship with Microsoft," she said, as businesses typically buy Office software from retailers and resellers. Google is using search to forge those direct relationships and then offer business apps that compete with Microsoft's plans.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that no serious bids have emerged to rival Microsoft's $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo. That doesn't mean the company isn't still trying to piece something together.
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While Microsoft's Yahoo bid could help big online advertisers, smaller firms could face a crunch.
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Business software units of Yahoo  Inc  and Google Inc  are introducing beefed-up  versions of their Web-based software that compete with  Microsoft Outlook, offering yet another clue why Microsoft Corp   made a $45 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo.
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Buoyed by another Federal Reserve interest-rate cut and by Microsoftâs $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, the broad stock market rose last week.
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Internet media company Yahoo Inc.  on Tuesday reported a dip in quarterly profit, weighed down by weak display advertising, and gave a weaker-than-expected forecast through the end of 2007.
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Wall Street is expected to open slightly lower on Monday after rallying on Friday after Microsoft Corp.  bid for Internet media firm Yahoo Inc. .
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InfoWorld - Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo for around $44.6 billion in cash and shares, to better compete with Google in the market for online services.
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Yahoo Inc. has formally rejected Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate
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Yahoo Inc rejected  Microsoft Corp's unsolicited $41.6 billion takeover offer as  too low on Monday, forcing the software maker either to sweeten  the bid or adopt a hostile approach to clinch a deal.