MicroHoo: “Just Resting”

May 5, 2008 at 3:13 pm Leave a comment

I don’t think this parrot is dead–yet.

Despite Microsoft (MSFT) walking away from the purchase of Yahoo (YHOO), there’s probably still more to play out in this drama. Ballmer will wait a bit for the share price to settle back into the low 20s, and try again, perhaps for even less than the original $31 this time. If Jerry Yang and the rest of the Yahooligans can turn the ship around, perhaps they’ll be vindicated. But don’t hold your breath.

As I commented elsewhere this morning, all of this reminds me of the property currently for sale on my street. The house is in such need of repair that it’s clearly a tear-down. As such, the market values it at the cost of the land minus demolition costs. But the owners refuse to set the price properly, figuring the house has value as a living space (natural, since they reside there.)

Similarly, Wang seems to believe Yahoo has a greater value than anyone else sees. So far he’s been unsuccessful in his attempts at home renovation. But In this case, Microsoft also has a problem: there aren’t any other suitable vacant lots available, and Ballmer can’t afford to wait too long to jump on this one, even if he has to pay more than he wants.

Frankly, both situations will be interesting to watch play out.

Disclosure: I hold no position in any of the stocks mentioned here.