Yahoo's first quarter numbers are better than anticipated, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said on Tuesday that the company is still open to "any and all" alternatives, including a sale to Microsoft. Does this mean the Microhoo saga is finally close to ending?

Experts say it's likely.

Yahoo's revenue grew 9 percent to $1.81 billion, even though shares still dropped about 15 cents in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

"It was a solid quarter. But I don’t think it is something that will significantly alter the dynamics of the Microsoft negotiations," Clayton Moran, an analyst with the Stanford Group, told The New York Times.

Microsoft chief Steven Balmer, who has played hardball for months, isn't exactly impressed either. "I wish Yahoo all the success with its results, but it doesn’t affect the value of Yahoo to Microsoft," he said, according to Reuters.

Microsoft's original offer of $44.6 billion has now fallen to $43 billion. In that time, Yahoo spent $14 million in fees to advisors Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers trying to ward off the unwanted Microsoft takeover.

Throughout the months-long song and dance, Yahoo has courted many suitors to stay alive, including Google and AOL in a possible super merger. Yahoo tested outsourcing its search advertising to Google, but officials have so far declined to comment on the outcome.