An Independent Yahoo Is Hard to Imagine

Yahoo’s earnings report yesterday didn’t portend an immediate turnaround, Catherine Holahan writes in BusinessWeek, meaning the company must do something to meet the “grandiose claims” it made in rejecting Microsoft’s bid. Some still see Yahoo ultimately taking that path, and expanding its deal with Google is another option that might justify Yahoo standing firm on its third-quarter and yearly forecasts.

Though investors might get some idea of its future direction when Carl Icahn and his two chosen fellow directors come aboard Aug. 1, Yahoo, Holahan writes, “will need to show that, weak economy or not, it is capable of accelerating growth and generating more revenue from its search business. That requires Yahoo to do better than Wall Street's worst expectations.” (More Carl Icahn stories.)