雅虎卖了，Twitter什么时候卖？

今年上午，雅虎问答（Yahoo Answer）等一系列雅虎资产的新东家——威瑞森公司（Verizon）发布了今年第二季度的财务报告。虽然这笔人们期待已久的交易终于一锤定音，但是这里要指出的是，这笔交易尚未完全收官。（由于雅虎收购案的交易结构相当复杂，因此这笔交易可能还需要6至9个月才能收尾。）

与此同时，Twitter也将于今晚发布它的收益状况。自从迪克·科斯特罗辞去CEO职位，联合创始人杰克·多西重新掌权以来，已经过去了整整一年。但是Twitter仍然没有搞清楚一个自诞生以来就纠缠着它的问题：“Twitter究竟是什么？”对于杰克·多西最近给出的答案“Twitter就是生活”，大家显然不是很买账。昨天，Titter新推出了一支名叫“看看发生了什么”的广告，将其自身定义为一个政治新闻引擎。这支广告强调了Twitter的最大卖点：不管Facebook、YouTube、Instagram和Snapchat这些社交应用怎么努力地竞争，Twitter始终还是政治家、商业领袖、运动员甚至是坎耶·维斯特等娱乐明星发布重要声明的首选之地。

在今晚的收益电话会议上，估计会有不少人提到关于Twitter最近进军体育视频直播的问题——Twitter开通视频直播以来，也的确从电视台抢走了不少收视率。最近Twitter接连与MLB、NHL、NBA和NFL等顶级体育赛事签订了视频转播协议，很多人不禁怀疑Twitter可能将成为ESPN等体育频道的收购目标。在本月初于阿斯彭举办的《财富》脑力风暴科技峰会上，迪士尼公司的CEO鲍勃·艾格就坦率地指出，他认为ESPN最终需要从传统的有线电视服务中走出来，谋求新的发展。

Twitter高达130亿美元的市值或许会令潜在收购商望而生畏。但ESPN要做的只是等待。

2007年，雅虎曾拒绝了一笔高达440亿美元的收购邀约。然而不到十年，威瑞森就以只有当初十分之一的价格（48亿美元）将雅虎收入囊中。如果说雅虎的命运对我们有什么启示的话，那就是要想让一家深陷泥潭的互联网公司扭亏为盈，几乎是不可能的事——同样近乎不可能的，是料定什么时候将公司出售才是正确的时机。

最新：近日Twitter声明称，该公司将不再在Periscope上直播其收益电话会议。该公司在其官方Twitter页面上表示：“从本周二的收益电话会议起，我们将重新启用传统的音频电话会议。对于投资者的反馈，我们将采用音频对最重要的问题进行回答。我们已决定停用Periscope.” （财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

This morning Verizon , the proud new owner of Yahoo Answers, among other assets, reports its second-quarter financials. Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo has been expected for months, and we’re not done yet! (Because of Yahoo’scomplicated deal structure, this thing will take six to nine months to close.)

Meanwhile, Twitter will announce its earnings this evening. It has been a year since Dick Costolo resigned as CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey returned. But Twitter still struggles to answer the question that’s plagued its entire existence: “What is Twitter?” Dorsey’s most recent answer, “Twitter is ‘live’ ” hasn’t really stuck. Yesterday, Twitter unveiled a new ad campaign playing up its role as a political news engine with the message, “See what’s happening.” It emphasizes Twitter’s biggest selling point: No matter how aggressivelyFacebook , YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat try to compete, Twitter is still the go-to place for politicians, business leaders, athletes, and Kanye West to make important announcements.

During its call tonight, I’ll be listening for questions about Twitter’s recent push into sports—the last bastion of live television viewing. Its recent spate of livestreaming deals with MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL has prompted speculation that Twitter might be a takeover target for the likes of ESPN. AtFortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger was candid in his assessment that ESPN will eventually need to move away from traditional cable packages.

Twitter’s $13 billion market cap makes such a deal feel too expensive. But maybe all ESPN has to do is wait.

In 2007, Yahoo rejected a $44 billion takeover offer. Less than a decade later, Verizon got it for one-tenth that price, a relatively modest $4.8 billion. If Yahoo’s fate tells us anything, it’s that turning around a struggling Internet asset is nearly as impossible as knowing the right time to sell.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Twitter will not longer broadcast its earnings calls on Periscope. The company announced the news via tweet:”Starting with Tue’s earnings, we’ll move back to an audio-only call. Investor feedback was that audio stream + Q&A most important. decided to stop using Periscope.”