'Exciting Time for Yahoo (YHOO),' Former CEO Levinsohn Tells CNBC
NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Yahoo! (YHOO) continues to be in focus on Monday, after it was announced this morning that Verizon (VZ) has purchased the Internet company for a reported $4.8 billion.
Much of the conversation since has revolved around Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer and her unsuccessful attempt at turning the one time online giant around. For further perspective, former CEO of Yahoo! Ross Levinsohn joined CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report" to give his input on the deal.
"I think it's an exciting day for employees at Yahoo!. You now get a purchaser that brings you incredible scale, deep pockets to invest, distribution, and a really tremendous team (at Verizon) who understands the business and is committed," Levinsohn said, insinuating a possible Yahoo! revival.
Levinsohn sees Verizon as the right "strategic buyer" for the company, as it provides the company with transparent direction and a commitment to the digital business.
Additionally, Levinsohn relayed four points, embraced by Verizon, that will provide further insight into what a new Yahoo! might look like, en route to becoming "a digital media/technology media company."
"A company that embraces premium content, ad technology, puts its arms around commerce, and has the opportunity in and around augmented and virtual reality because of the premium experiences companies are embracing," Levinsohn said.
Moreover, the focus on premium content for Yahoo! will also remain a driving force to a successful integration into Verizon as it provides an alternative to companies such as Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL). In light of that, Levinsohn believes this "an exciting time" for Yahoo!.
As previously mentioned much of the conversation this morning has not been without some scrutiny of Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, and her inability to turn the company around, however Levinsohn reiterated she worked as hard as she could, and spoke on how her legacy should be viewed.
"Somebody who came in with incredible enthusiasm and a very clear direction in her own mind on what she wanted to make Yahoo!. Clearly the numbers show that it didn't work and the company eroded faster than its competitors," Levinsohn noted, taking nothing away from her unrelenting work to make the company viable once again.
Shares of Yahoo! are lower 2.54% to $38.38 Monday afternoon.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings rates Yahoo! as a "Hold" with a ratings score of "C-." The primary factors that have impacted TheStreet Ratings are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks.
The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, TheStreet Ratings also findS weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share.
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: YHOO