Yahoo Stock Rises on Disney Rumors
By Andrea Orr
PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc.'s depressed stock gained some ground on Tuesday as rumors surfaced that the Walt Disney Internet Group might make a major investment in the company.
Both companies declined comment on the rumors and the rally in Yahoo stock started to run out of steam after several analysts voiced doubt that any sort of big deal was in the works.
Still, the rumors renewed speculation Yahoo could be in a position to seek an offline partner to reinforce its business, which has suffered recently with the softening online advertising market. And unlike a year ago, when Yahoo was commonly rumored to be interested in buying media giants like Walt Disney Co., Yahoo is now seen as a potential acquisition target.
Walt Disney Internet is controlled by Burbank, Calif.-based Walt Disney Co, which also owns major U.S. TV network ABC.
On Monday, a Deutsche Bank research report said Yahoo would need a traditional media partner or a wireless communications partner to improve its revenue growth outside of the United States.
YAHOO SEEN RELUCTANT TO SELL NOW
Shares of Yahoo rose $1-15/16 to close at $35-13/16 on the Nasdaq exchange. Earlier in the session, they had traded as high as $39-1/2. Walt Disney Internet shares were up 1/2 to $5-15/16 on the New York Stock Exchange, off a session high of $6-1/4, while Walt Disney Co shares were off 1/16 at $30-5/16, also on the NYSE.
In response to the rumors, Internet analyst Henry Blodget of Merrill Lynch issued a research report that said the pending merger of America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc. would likely spur other media companies to create ``powerful media strategies.''
Blodget said that while a partnership between Yahoo and Disney might make sense, he doubted Yahoo management would sell the company at current levels. Yahoo stock remains near a 52-week low, and well below its peak for the year of $250.
The Disney rumors appeared to be rooted in a smaller deal Yahoo did announce on Tuesday with Disney affiliate ABCNews.com, to carry daily video feeds from programs like ''World News Tonight'' and ``Good Morning America'' on its Web site.
That deal is similar to several other content distribution arrangements Yahoo has in place. However, Blodget noted the addition of streaming audio and video content would create valuable new media advertising opportunities, which are badly needed to supplement the sputtering banner ad market.
Other analysts argued the very nature of Yahoo's media strategy, in which it carries content from multiple sources, suggest it would not just form a strong alliance with a single media company.
``Yahoo's history has shown the company to be almost fiercely independent,'' said Derek Brown of W.R. Hambrecht. ''They have shown the advantage to being a distribution point for a seemingly endless array of content from different sources.''
Although Yahoo has suffered a sharp decline in its market value, Brown noted that most of its peer companies have also seen their stock prices plummet and traditional media companies ''are feeling a decent amount of pain as well.'' |
