Yahoo! after the bell 10-19-06: Analysts' opinions

We've all had a couple of days to digest Yahoo!'s results (here's my take). Today was also the first day of grace after the earnings for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares as it returned to positive territory, trading up 0.65% or 15 cents to close $23.14.

After eBay's favorable results reported yesterday and Google's reporting about an hour ago nearly double the profits and beating estimates, YHOO may remain in the doghouse a while longer as some might increase their position in eBay and Google at the expense of Yahoo!

There are many things I still want to see changing with Yahoo!, although the stock might soon be reaching the turnaround point. This, however, will largely be dependent on what Google does next too.

As for analysts, here's an assortment from yesterday's comments:

• Piper Jaffray downgraded Yahoo! to market perform from outperform, saying the firm is facing challenging trends, which the company isn't responding to (not fast enough) and that are causing it to lose market share.
• Over at Stifel Nicolaus & Company, analysts maintain their "buy" rating on Yahoo! Inc but are reducing their estimates and target price to $29 from $33. Reason - maturing and fragmenting industry.
• American Technology Research analyst Rob Sanderson said that there are still concerns about Yahoo. "It has become a 'show-me' stock and (the company) hasn't been showing much."