Social News: Facebook Inc (FB), LinkedIn Corp (LNKD), Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), & Yelp Inc (YELP)

Magnetic Mayer Rejuvenates Yahoo (CIO-Today)
Not much had been going right for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) until it lured Marissa Mayer away from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) to become its CEO last summer. The move is shaping up as the best thing to happen to Yahoo since 2005 when it invested $1 billion in what was then a little-known Internet company in China, Alibaba. Mayer’s magnetism and Alibaba’s prosperity are now combining to transform Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) from a tale of woe into a comeback story that is winning over Silicon Valley and Wall Street. People are spending more time on Yahoo’s flagship website. Talented engineers and entrepreneurs are coming to work for the company.

Yahoo to report 2Q results (GulfNews)
Sunnyvale, California: Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer will have a chance to review her accomplishments during her first year on the job with the release of the Internet company’s second-quarter earnings. The report, due out Tuesday after the stock market closes, is expected to show Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is still struggling to boost its revenue even as more advertising shifts to the Internet. More of that marketing money has been flowing to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), instead of Yahoo. Since Mayer’s hiring a year ago on Tuesday, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has redesigned several key Internet services and started to spruce up its applications for mobile devices.

Yelp Coverage Initiated at Needham & Company (YELP) (UtahPeoplesPost)
Needham & Company started coverage on shares of Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call. A number of other firms have also recently commented on Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP). Analysts at Citigroup Inc. initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a research note to investors on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a neutral rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Pacific Crest initiated coverage on shares of Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) in a research note to investors on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set an outperform rating on the stock.

Yelp shares downgraded following strong run (BusinessWeek)
A UBS analyst downgraded shares of Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) on Monday after the business review site’s shares have climbed more than 50 percent since the beginning of May. …Analyst Eric Sheridan downgraded the stock to “Neutral” from “Buy,” and raised his price target to $40 per share from $32. Sheridan has a positive view of the company and raised his 2014 revenue estimate to $340 million from $322 million, but said the company’s stock is trading at a fair price. “We continue to believe that Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) is one of the best positioned businesses within our coverage universe in terms of key secular themes,” he said.