Yahoo: Weisel Sees Catalysts, but Chops Numbers on Declining Display Ads

While chopping estimates slightly for Yahoo (YHOO), Thomas Weisel analyst Christa Quarles asks in a report today, “Will They or Won’t They,” and takes a look at “2009 Potential Catalysts” for Yahoo shares, revolving, of course, around the matter of a potential deal to sell Yahoo assets to Microsoft (MSFT).

Quarles lowers her 2008 profit estimate by a penny to 43 cents a share, and lowers her 2009 estimate from 42 cents to 38 cents, mainly because of a six percent year-over-year decrease in display ad revenue in the fourth quarter and a two percent drop in 2009. She thinks search ad revenue will rise 10 percent and 7.2 percent in those periods, respectively.

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