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AT&T May Push Verizon Aside In Yahoo Auction Battle

AT&T ( T ) is poised to make its own run for Yahoo ’s ( YHOO ) Internet business, potentially thwarting telecom rival Verizon Communications ( VZ ), which has been viewed as the front-runner. Bloomberg reported  Wednesday that AT&T “remains a contender” to acquire Yahoo’s Internet business. AT&T is mulling its own play for the Web portal after YP Holdings decided to back off, Bloomberg reported. While Verizon has a huge debt load as the result of acquiring Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, AT&T’s balance sheet is in better shape from its acquisition of DirecTV Group. YP Holdings, now a digital advertising business, is AT&T’s former print yellow pages unit. Cerberus Capital Management controls YP Holdings, though AT&T still holds a stake in it. Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, restated an interest in buying part or all of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo at a JPMorgan conference on Tuesday. “It’s a possibility to gain greater scale,” McAdam said. Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015. A second round of bidding for Yahoo is expected to conclude in early June. Aside from Verizon, bidders are said to include private equity firm TPG and a consortium led by Bain Capital LP and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) Chairman Warren Buffett, a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid. Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. Those assets may be excluded from a sale of the Internet and advertising business.

Yahoo Could Fetch Less Than Expected; Stock Falls

Yahoo ( YHOO ) stock fell Friday on speculation the Web portal’s buyout offers might be less than half of what most observers had been expecting, amid a second round of bidding. Yahoo stock fell 1.4% to 36.50 in the stock market today .  That gives it a market valuation of roughly $35 billion, but almost all of its value is comprised of big stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. Verizon Communications ( VZ ), which bought AOL last year, has been viewed as the front-runner to buy Yahoo, although private equity firms have also been kicking the tires. There’s been speculation that Microsoft ( MSFT ), which has a search partnership with Yahoo, could team with a private-equity firm, or that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) might back a bid by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert. Some early estimates put possible bids in the $5 billion to $8 billion range for the core Yahoo business, which excludes Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. As many as 10 bidders have taken part in presentations led by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal, however, reported late Thursday that some PE firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion, or not bid at all. And Verizon, too, might offer a lower bid, says the report, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Yahoo has set a deadline in the first week of June for the next round of bids. Verizon, which bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, aims to morph into a digital media company that garners more advertising revenue, as wireless data competition mounts.

As Growth Investors Flee Apple, Warren Buffett Sees Value

Noted value investor Warren Buffett has picked up shares of Apple ( AAPL ) as growth investors have rotated out of the stock. Buffett disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) bought 9.8 million shares of Apple, valued at $1.07 billion, at the end of the quarter. Buffett tends to focus on slower-growth companies that he believes are undervalued by the market, and he has not been a big tech investor. Meanwhile, hedge fund billionaire David Tepper has sold his stake in Apple, according to a filing with the SEC. Tepper previously held 1.26 million shares, last valued around $133 million, media reports said . On April 28, activist investor Carl Icahn said he had sold all of his shares in Apple. At one point, Icahn owned 53 million shares, or nearly 1% of the company. And Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn also has been decreasing his stake in Apple. Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White said Buffett’s Apple investment is a positive sign for the iPhone maker. “Although Buffett has admitted to not understanding technology, and thus avoiding the group for the most part (he also owns IBM ( IBM )), he is always on the lookout for a ‘wonderful company at a fair price,’ and we believe that is what he sees in Apple,” White said in a research report Monday. Investors soured on Apple after the Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported its first year-over-year sales decline since 2003 and its first-ever drop in iPhone unit sales in the March quarter. “In our view, Buffett’s investment in Apple speaks to a much bigger theme around the Apple story — the stock is meaningfully undervalued for such an excellent company with attractive long-term growth prospects,” White said. “In our view, the market gives Apple no credit for its expansive digital matrix across software, services and hardware that deliver a seamless experience for an installed base of 1 billion active devices.” Buffett also has confirmed that he could back a bid for Yahoo ( YHOO ) by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert. Apple stock was up more than 3%, near 94, in midday trading on the stock market today . On Thursday, Apple stock fell to its lowest level in nearly two years, at 89.47. RELATED: Apple Gets Lift From China Ride-Hailing Service Investment .