What's happening: Shares of Yelp (YELP 2.55%) were down 11.2% as of 2:45 p.m. Thursday after Bloomberg reported the local business review company has decided to hold off on chasing a possible sale.
Why it's happening: Recall in early May, Yelp stock popped more than 20% after The Wall Street Journal reported Yelp was working with Goldman Sachs on the sale after receiving interest of a potential takeover, and that it had been in contact with potential buyers. At the time, WSJ noted a deal wasn't "imminent ... and it's possible Yelp will decide against a sale."
Sure enough, Bloomberg today cites "people with knowledge of the matter" as saying Yelp indeed had "several interested suitors but isn't pursuing a transaction in the immediate future." The sources elaborated Yelp may pursue a sale going forward if Yelp co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman changes his mind.
It's hard to blame Stoppelman for holding off. Yelp has, after all, beat analysts' bottom-line expectations in each of its past three quarters. But investors rightly remain worried about Yelp's over-reliance on Google for traffic, high churn, and sluggish domestic growth as Yelp builds a foundation to properly monetize its comparatively young international sites. In any case, that's why I think Yelp could still be a good bet for investors with time on their side, and patience to watch as Yelp's long-term efforts bear fruit. But as today's drop demonstrates, I think it's unwise to bet on an acquisition -- which is never guaranteed -- as a central part of any investment thesis.
