Tigress Downgrades Yahoo! Inc.; Core Revenue Is 'Flat-Lined'

Yahoo! Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) core business continues to deteriorate while its sales have flat-lined and margins narrow, an analyst said Friday.Tigress' Seth Feinstein downgraded Yahoo to Neutral, from Buy, and said he sees little sign of a quick turnaround.The company missed earnings expectations by nearly 17 percent April 21, while revenue increased 8 percent.Yahoo shares are off more than 4 percent this week but closed Friday little changed at $42.51.Yahoo's revenue in the recent quarter from the combined categories of mobile, video, social and native grew 58 percent, but represented just 30 percent of revenue.While Feinseth believes those revenue categories will eventually become more significant, "we've tempered our expectations," Feinseth said.Yahoo's revenue from its core business in the first quarter declined 4 percent in the recent period. During the past 12 months, total revenue has grown by less than 1 percent.Cash flow has fallen more than 7 percent in the past year, to $2.9 billion, while Yahoo's operating margins have narrowed significantly, Feinseth said.Analysts on average maintain an Overweight rating on Yahoo with a $54.88 target, according to FactSet