/ Source: The Associated Press
The board of Yahoo Inc. has approved plans to repurchase up to $3 billion in stock over the next three years.
The Internet company bought back $385 million in stock in the first quarter. That's more than Yahoo spent on share buybacks in 2008 and 2009 combined.
The new buybacks, disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday, are one way for the Sunnyvale, Calif., company to signal confidence in its stock, Caris & Co. analyst Sandeep Aggarwal says in a note.
Aggarwal says its shares are likely to get a lift over the next year. He adds the online display ad market is recovering from the recession and Yahoo's search engine deal with Microsoft Corp. will help cut costs.