After Yahoo! Inc. [YHOO] reports its first-quarter earnings tonight, stories will flow about how the numbers could alter the price Microsoft Corp. [MSFT] may eventually pay to acquire the Internet portal. Apparently Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer won't be reading them. Speaking in Morocco on Tuesday, he said the results won't "affect the value of Yahoo! to Microsoft."

Negotiating tactics? Of course. And Ballmer didn't say Microsoft wouldn't raise its offer no matter what. Besides, the report could still sway Yahoo! shareholders, who must sign off on any deal and may hesitate in backing a takeover at Microsoft's standing offer of $31 a share, or $43 billion. Yahoo! also could surprise by announcing that it's making headway toward a deal with Time Warner Inc.'s [TWX]  AOL unit or a more permanent deal with rival Google Inc. [GOOG] to outsource its search advertising. -- David Shabelman

See April 18 story on Yahoo!'s earnings from Tech Confidential
See April 22 story on Ballmer's talk from Reuters
See April 22 post from Silicon Alley Insider
See April 22 post from All Things Digital