> Yahoo’s total market cap is less than the $40.5 billion, and after accounting for the cash on the company’s balance sheet, this means Yahoo’s core business is valued at less than $0. Now, this isn’t a new development that will disappear with some quick arbitrage. In fact, the value of Yahoo’s core business has been negatively valued for more than a year, so investors are seeing the value discrepancy measured by traditional means but just don’t believe in the company’s trajectory.
That article is making a different mistake. It is looking at market cap versus total assets. That isn't a very good measure and does not mean investors place negative value on the core business. Yahoo's book value is only about $27B, which is the amount that would be left if the company were liquidated today (notwithstanding liquidation costs). Since their price/book ratio is greater than 1 it means investors do put value on the future business, albeit not very much.
> Yahoo’s total market cap is less than the $40.5 billion, and after accounting for the cash on the company’s balance sheet, this means Yahoo’s core business is valued at less than $0. Now, this isn’t a new development that will disappear with some quick arbitrage. In fact, the value of Yahoo’s core business has been negatively valued for more than a year, so investors are seeing the value discrepancy measured by traditional means but just don’t believe in the company’s trajectory.