Yahoo earnings – status quo, eh?

So Yahoo earnings are out and they are a little better than expected.  But you have to think Yahoo tried very hard to beat the expectations pulling all possible levers to make this happen.  If that assumption is true then the real numbers are probably more inline with what the street expected (or worse).  So now what?  Well, Ballmer said he doesn’t care what the earnings are.  That makes sense because if MSFT did their homework, they already figured out what Yahoo was worth to them.  I guess I don’t understand how Yahoo could argue that they are worth so much more.  The stock was sub $20 before the bid was launched so in what reality is it worth $40 (or whatever they want).  Hipmojo does a nice analysis here.