Yahoo is benefiting once again from its stake in China's hottest Internet company, Alibaba Group.

Investors latched on to Yahoo Monday in anticipation of a huge windfall from Alibaba's initial public offering of stock later this year. Yahoo's stock gained $1.51, or 4 percent, to close at $39.11.

Alibaba ignited the excitement about its forthcoming IPO by announcing plans to list its stock on a U.S. exchange.

Yahoo Inc. is expected to sell about half its 24 percent stake in Alibaba as part of an IPO that analysts believe could raise $15 billion. That means Yahoo is likely to collect several billion dollars from AIibaba's IPO. That money could then be used to pay a special dividend to shareholders or buy back more of its stock.