Google’s Mortalization

Those who make a habit of existing in the clouds eventually have to descend. Perhaps, Google is experiencing a slight doze of “mortalization”. Google investors have lost more than 18% of their money over the past month due to concerns about the crumbling US macroeconomic condition. After yesterday’s 4Q07 results which were highly overestimated by

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Microsoft to Rescue the Yahoo Damsel in Distress

Yahoo!’s vulnerable situation was bound to bring out acquisition offers, and Microsoft has been sniffing at the company for a year (see the letter from Ballmer to Yang in the WSJ). I was hoping against hope that Private Equity would step up to the plate, recognizing the leverage opportunity, but it has not happened.

Interdigital: Valuation Roadblocks

By Vijay Nagarajan, Guest Author As I looked at the positives of QCOM acquiring IDCC, I threw a number between $35 and $45 as a possible sale price. This price was based on a mix of historic data projection, IDCC’s current stock price and the perceived value to QCOM. I revisited the topic recently to

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Time For Private Equity At Yahoo

Predictably, Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) posted a 23% drop in its 4Q07 profit and forecasted 2008 revenues that were below the Street’s expectation. The stock was down over 10% in after-hours trading. The market cap has eroded to the tune of $25 Billion in the last two years. So how do we play the stock going

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Sunpower Seems Unreasonably Slaughtered

Sunpower’s (SPWR) Q4 stock performance has been scary as the company’s stock reached heights of $160/share in intraday trading and then plummeted on general market madness and company outlook to $73/share recently. It is worth looking at the company to see what has been going on.

Forbes Column 08: How To Dig Out Yahoo’s Treasures

More on the same topic. My Forbes column How To Dig Out Yahoo’s Treasures provides commentary on Yahoo’s earnings later today.

What is John Donahoe’s Gameplan with eBay?

The big news this week is eBay’s CEO change. Meg Whitman retires, John Donahoe will be taking her place. There is wide-spread skepticism about John Donahoe’s choice as the successor to Meg Whitman. We just completed a comprehensive analysis of eBay’s business and a comparative analysis of eBay vs. Amazon.

Trend Radar 2008: Turnarounds

2008 seems like a year in which several major companies are positioned for turnarounds. Whether or not they would be successful is another matter, but there is enough discontinuity in each of their markets, that turnarounds could happen. Here are some to watch: