A Closer Look At Yandex (YNDX)

     Yandex (YNDX) is often identified as the Russian Google.  It is the primary search engine of Russia, however recently it has begun to expand its services.  Currently Yandex is the preferred search engine of just over 60% of Russia and is the 4th largest search engine in the world.  Yandex is not just limited to Russia as it is often used mostly by Easter European countries and some parts of Asia. Yandex's expansions include Yandex Wallet, a pay system similar to Google and its recent online deal with Facebook.  Yandex also specializes on online shopping comparison and goods delivery.

     To begin how can one not invest in a company that is compared to Google.  Yandex is growing and has managed to maintain its customer base even with other Internet giants attempting to gain a foothold in their market.  In 2009 Yandex took a step forward in response and opened Yandex Labs in Nevada to focus on the American Consumer.  They have also begun to branch out and expand partnerships, most recently with Facebook.  An even bigger accomplishment is that Fortune has described Yandex's search technology further advanced than Google's.  If anything points to Yandex's success it is that they have turned down offers from a buyout by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.  They have beat analyst estimates for the past four earning reports and will garner more attention during the Olympics.  The earnings report for YNDX will be released February 20th and I expect even larger growth in revenue.  Below is Yandex's chart for the past year.