After Yahoo, who’s next
[...] that Yahoo is being sold, what other struggling tech companies might soon find themselves on the auction block?
Several other firms would seem to be candidates because their businesses are faltering and their stock prices have tumbled.
Many tech companies have struggled with execution, unforeseen competition, management turnover and other woes.
Disaffected investors have pushed shares lower, leaving companies with market values that are well below their highs.
“These companies often come to market with more hope than financial wherewithal,” said Rob Enderle, president of the technology strategy firm Enderle Group.
The maker of action cameras is trying to pull out of a slump with the help of new products planned this year.
[...] GoPro said it expects to be profitable again in the fourth quarter, when it releases a new version of its Hero line of cameras and a drone called Karma.
The discount deals company lost nearly $55 million in the quarter and is forecast to report a loss for all of 2016 after three consecutive years of profitability.
Groupon is under pressure from competitors and it reduced its global operations to focus more on the U.S. and Canadian markets.
The company also revised its projected revenue for the year, to between $3 billion and $3.1 billion from the previous projection of $2.75 billion to $3.05 billion.
[...] analyst Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital Markets said in a note to clients that “we continue to question the sustainability of these results and still believe the company faces substantial challenges.”
Best known for games such as “FarmVille” and “Words With Friends,” Zynga is struggling to achieve the same success on mobile devices that it had on desktop computers.
In the first quarter, Zynga managed to post a narrower loss, $26.6 million, than a year earlier, thanks to reduced expenses and higher advertising revenue.
A year ago, media reports had Yelp exploring a sale and then taking itself off the market, although the online review company never confirmed either step.
In any case, Yelp is trying to find ways to increase revenue from advertising and return to profitability.
The company’s website provides search and review features for restaurants, retailers and other businesses.
[...] Yelp faces growing competition for advertising.
The company said that on a monthly average basis, about 77 million unique visitors visited Yelp on desktop computers and 69 million on mobile devices in the first quarter.
[...] analysts at Citigroup and Wells Fargo Securities cut their ratings on the stock last month, citing concerns about Yelp’s ability to sustain its advertising revenue growth.
The online provider of reviews that help connect customers with home-services contractors recently began offering free access to its reviews in hopes of boosting performance.
In reporting second-quarter results last week, CEO Scott Durchslag said the move to free access spawned “an extraordinary reacceleration in new member registrations and user engagement.”