Investors used to be able to purchase Yahoo stock directly, but that’s not the case anymore because the once-listed company was acquired by Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in 2017 for $4.5 billion. Hence, Yahoo became a private company post-acquisition and its shares are no longer listed on the stock exchange. In 2021, Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO), an American alternative investment fund, bought 90% of Yahoo Inc. from Verizon, meaning that investors can indirectly buy Yahoo via APO stock.
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Still, Yahoo has an interesting history and timeline worth reading. Let’s dive right into it!
What is Yahoo?
Yahoo was one of the greatest inventions of the 90s. Yahoo.com was started as a web service provider, offering one of the most popular search engines of the past and a directory to World Wide Web (www) pages. Later, Yahoo also started offering other services, including email, news, finance, online gaming, and advertising, among others.
Its finance website, Yahoo! Finance, is one of the most visited stock research websites to date. Importantly, Yahoo Search faces stringent competition from the likes of Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bing search engines.
Here’s Yahoo’s Interesting Timeline
- In January 1994, David Filo and Jerry Yang, two engineering students from Stanford University, started Yahoo as a web directory, organized in a hierarchy. Its original name was “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.”
- In March 1994, they renamed the site to “Yahoo!,” a backronym for “Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle.”
- On April 12, 1996, Yahoo went public, raising $1 billion with its initial public offering (IPO).
- During the years up to the dot-com bubble, Yahoo stock shot up to glory, skyrocketing to its highest close of $475 on January 3, 2000 (this price is not adjusted for stock splits).
- Eventually, after the dot-com bubble burst, Yahoo stock fell to $8.11 on September 26, 2001.
- In the years to follow, Yahoo established several other successful services, such as Yahoo! Mail (free email service) through a series of acquisitions.
- In 2008, Microsoft offered to acquire Yahoo for a price of $47 billion. However, the deal could not go through since Yahoo demanded a higher valuation.
- What followed were a series of top executive shake-ups and the dismal handling of Yahoo’s businesses. Moreover, the growing competition from other tech giants started impacting Yahoo’s performance.
- On June 13, 2017, Verizon completed the acquisition of Yahoo’s internet business. Verizon began a new unit called Oath, under which it put together Yahoo, AOL, and HuffPost.
- After struggling to manage the Oath business, Verizon sold 90% of Yahoo and its communications network AOL to a private equity fund, Apollo Global, in 2021 for $5 billion. Verizon still owns the remaining 10% of Yahoo Inc.
- Under its new management, Yahoo has been making a stronger comeback, with a slew of meaningful acquisitions. Yahoo’s news website TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance, and sports gaming platform Yahoo Sports continue to make headways in their respective fields. Similarly, AOL, which was combined with Yahoo during Verizon’s acquisition, remains a solid cash cow for the business. Yahoo’s platforms are garnering higher viewership while trying to catch up with peers, namely Google, Microsoft, Facebook (NASDAQ:META), and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN).
How to Buy Yahoo Stock
After learning about the interesting history of Yahoo, you may still be enticed to invest in the company. As mentioned earlier, to gain exposure to Yahoo’s growing business, you can buy shares of its owner, Apollo Global Management.
Is APO Stock a Good Buy?
With nine Buys and three Hold ratings, Apollo Global stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating. On TipRanks, the average Apollo Global Management price target of $94.40 implies 6.3% upside potential from current levels. Meanwhile, APO stock has gained 40.1% so far in 2023.
Investors looking for the most accurate and most profitable analyst covering APO could follow the ratings of Alexander Blostein of Goldman Sachs. Following his ratings on this stock for a one-year period has historically resulted in a 100% success rate and an average return of 43.39% per trade.
Key Takeaways
Yahoo is making major headways in its different business units by acquiring leading players. Apollo Global owns a majority of Yahoo and investors can buy APO stock if they seek exposure to Yahoo’s flourishing business model.
