Soleil Downgrades Yahoo! (YHOO) to Sell; $22 PT

Soleil Securities Group downgrades Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) from Hold to Sell and sets a $22 price target.

The firm believes this weekend's move by Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to walk away from Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) is not "a tactic Microsoft is using to get a lower price." Soleil also points out that "Yahoo!'s prioritization of employees over shareholders in handing Microsoft should engender no loyalty from Wall St. and we expect Yahoo!'s employee turnover to accelerate as its share price falls and stock options are underwater."

Furthermore, the firm believes Yahoo! has "serious execution issues" and says an outsourcing deal with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) would create incremental revenues of $500 million in the near-term, but would at the same time "destroy a key differentiator of Yahoo! for any potential acquirer."

Shares of Yahoo! have opened today's trading session down about 19% to $23.23.

Yahoo! Inc. provides Internet services to users, advertisers, publishers, and developers worldwide. [BCS]

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