Yahoo shies away from investor questions, cancels earnings call
Unlike previous quarters, Yahoo will not offer a conference call between investors and executives following the tech giant's Q3 2016 earnings release.
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Yahoo is one of many companies that usually offer a conference call after the release of earnings results every quarter to field any questions that shareholders, analysts, and journalists may have relating to the company's financial performance.
This service, often conducted through a telephone or web platform, allows questions to be answered in one go rather than attempting to field the same queries individually -- and can highlight any investor concerns, which is important for any organization's bank sheet.
In an unusual move, however, Yahoo has ditched this practice for the tech giant's upcoming third quarter financial results, ending September 30.
The Q3 2016 results, due for release on Tuesday, will not include an earnings call or webcast.
Yahoo says this decision was made due to "the pending transaction with Verizon," in which Verizon offered to buy the company for $4.8 billion in July this year.
"Yahoo will not have an earnings call or webcast for its third quarter results," Yahoo says. "Concurrently with release of its financial results, supplemental financial information will also be posted on the Company's Investor Relations website at investor.yahoo.net."
Considering recent events, the choice not to answer questions by concerned investors may also be the result of Yahoo admitting to a data breach which took place in 2014, leading to the exposure of accounts belonging to at least 500 million users.
See also: Yahoo attack not 'state-sponsored,' researchers claim
In addition, reports claim that the company was compelled to secretly provide the US National Security Agency (NSA) with scanned information from customer emails -- another sticky point Yahoo may not want to talk about when a buyout is on the table.
Due to the data breach, reports have suggested that Verizon is considering asking for a considerable reduction in the purchase price of Yahoo. It has been suggested that the US telecoms giant may ask for a discount of up to $1 billion.
Verizon executives have also suggested that the data breach may even lead to the withdrawal of the full offer to purchase the ailing technology firm.