Stock Update (NASDAQ:YHOO): Yahoo! Slips as Starboard, Frustrated, Urges Regime Change

[at Barrons.com] – Shares of Yahoo! (YHOO) are down 13 cents, or 0.4%, at $32.07, after activists Starboard Value sent a letter to the board of directors, posted on its Web site, arguing investors have “lost all confidence in management and the board,” and that the company should abandon the current effort to fix its core business and instead simply focus on splitting it off from its Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) interest. The letter, signed by Starboard managing member Jeffrey C. Smith, makes clear Starboard is “frustrated” at how CEO Marissa Mayer and the board have received its efforts to be involved, writing “We have tried extremely hard to work “behind the scenes.” We have grown increasingly frustrated.” Starboard argues that since the company announced December 9th that it would scuttle a planned spin of the Alibaba assets, and that it would instead seek to spin out the “core” business, the company has ignored “inbound” offers to buy Yahoo!’s search and display ad business, something Starboard deems “unacceptable”: We are highly confident that there are interested and credible buyers for Yahoo’s Core Business. Read more on this. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) , currently valued at $30.59B, started trading this morning at $31.69. Looking at the equity, the company’s one day range is $31.60 to $32.40 and has traded between $27.20 and $50.41 over the past 12 months. Priced at 54.58x this year’s forecasted earnings, YHOO shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 12.55x forward p/e ratio. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 37 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.13 per share, which would be $0.17 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.07 sequential decrease. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $0.59 is a $0.98 setback when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $1.19 Billion. If realized, that would be a 0.85% increase over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Mizuho downgraded YHOO from Buy to Neutral (Oct 21, 2015). Previously, Bernstein upgraded YHOO from Mkt Perform to Outperform. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $42.72, which is 34.81% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:YHOO) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) – What to Expect When Yahoo! (YHOO) Reports Earnings Today Stock Update (NASDAQ:YHOO): Starboard Value’s Smith: Yahoo Is a "Great Opportunity" Stock Update: Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) – Yahoo!, Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) to Ring The Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell