Boston, MA 07/11/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) reports its 2Q2014 financial results next week on July 15. That will be two days earlier of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s reporting on July 17.
Although a date has not been provided for the much anticipated Alibaba IPO, analysts see a small gap of time between Yahoo!’s 2Q reporting and Alibaba’s IPO, which is expected before the end of this year.
Alibaba factor in Yahoo! report
Alibaba’s IPO is important for Yahoo! Investors because the company is one of the major investors in the Chinese e-commerce company. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) owns about 24 percent of interest in Alibaba.
As such, CEO Merissa Mayer and her management team at Yahoo! are expected to update investors on the Alibaba issue when the company reports next week. Of particular interest is what the company is planning to with the proceeds from the sale of a stake in Alibaba.
Yahoo! is required to unload 12 percent of its stake in the Chinese e-commerce company, a transaction that is expected to generate significant amount of money.
It has been said that Yahoo! might want to use the funds to make more acquisitions as it seeks to increase engagement and boost revenue especially now that it is playing catch-up against Google and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in advertising revenue.
However, the company is also expected to return a portion of the Alibaba IPO proceeds to shareholders.
Investors will be keeping a close eye in this area, especially given that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is in a position where it cannot afford to waste its resources, financial or otherwise.
Tumblr monetization
Yahoo! has made numerous acquisitions under Mayer, and one business that investors are showing great interest in is Tumblr. Monetization of Tumblr is an important thing for the investors because the business is thought of as currently underestimated in terms of its revenue potential.
Analysts project that the business could add up to $2.04 billion to Yahoo!’s display revenue by 2015. Therefore, it has the potential of changing the course of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), especially in the display business. Investors will be keen on Tumblr updates in the upcoming report.
