SunTrust Previews Yahoo's Q4 Earnings, Expects Focus To Be On Asian Asset Tax Efficiency And Growth Initiatives

Bob Peck of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey on Tuesday reiterated a Buy rating and $57 price target on shares of

ahead of the company's fourth quarter results on January 27th. “While we largely anticipate an in-line quarter, there are several other items that we expect are of equal or greater focus for investors,” Peck wrote. The analyst adds that investors should focus on the status of the “promising structures” for any potential tax-efficient spin-off of the company's

and Yahoo! Japan stakes. Investors have already discounted a range of possible tax rates with 20 percent being a midpoint estimate, and any materially lower tax outcome could be seen as a positive for the stock. Peck also notes that investors should focus on management's commentary surrounding its performance of growth initiatives within mobile, social, native and video. The analyst adds that that management should offer further commentary on its “appetite” for large acquisitions following its purchase of BrightRoll and Flurry. Finally, the company should also update investors on the status of its pending “opt out” on the search deal with

Peck estimates Yahoo will earn $0.28 in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.175 billion while EBITDA is estimated to be $364 million.