Yahoo! (YHOO) Stock Down, SunTrust Suggests New Leadership
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Yahoo! (YHOO) stock is sliding by 1.20% to $32.83 in early afternoon trading on Friday, as SunTrust believes Yahoo!'s board of directors will "enact catalysts," despite concerns about CEO Marissa Mayer's turnaround effort, Barron's reports.
One concern about the company is how Yahoo! will respond if its Alibaba (BABA) stake is taxed, SunTrust analyst Robert Peck notes, Barron's adds. Other investor worries surround the health of the "core" business and the high rate of executive turnover.
A number of top executives left the Internet search giant after Mayer asked them to commit to staying with the company for the next three to five years.
Additionally, on Monday, Re/code reported that Yahoo! has hired consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to lead a reorganization of its core business.
"Investors are asking that if this is true, is this a natural time to consider changes at the CEO level as well...," Peck said, Barron's notes. "We believe the board must assess if the current management team has support of 4 factions: senior executives, employees, partners, and investors. If not, we think a seamless transition to new leadership could be in the best interest of the company and shareholders."
The firm has a "buy" rating and a $40 price target on the stock.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates YAHOO INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate YAHOO INC (YHOO) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating 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 expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 15.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 6.8%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
- Although YHOO's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04 is very low, it is currently higher than that of the industry average. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 5.09, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
- The gross profit margin for YAHOO INC is rather high; currently it is at 67.91%. Despite the high profit margin, it has decreased significantly from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, YHOO's net profit margin of 6.22% is significantly lower than the industry average.
- Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $137.28 million or 52.53% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.
- Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 26.01%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 98.80% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: YHOO
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.