NaviSite Warns, Stock Tumbles

NaviSite narrowly beat Wall Street's first-quarter estimates but warned that second-quarter figures would fall short, sending shares of the Web and application hosting company tumbling.

At midday, the stock was down 1.25, or 24 percent, to 4.062. NaviSite's parent, CMGI was off 0.625, or 5 percent, to 11.25. Both are based in Andover, Mass.

In the first quarter, NaviSite lost $23.1 million, or 39 cents a share. Analysts polled by First Call expected a loss of 40 cents per share. In the same period a year ago, NaviSite lost $19.5 million, or 34 cents a share.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2001 climbed 27 percent from the previous quarter, to $26 million.

But investors reacted negatively to NaviSite's early warning on second quarter results. The company expects to report a loss of 41 to 42 cents per share on revenue of $29 to $30 million. For the full year, losses should be between $1.50 and $1.55 per share on revenue of $135 to $140 million.

NaviSite also announced that it has received a previously announced $80 million capital injection from CMGI and opened a London office. The London operation is expected to generate between $2 million to $3 million in fiscal 2002 and $18 to $20 million in 2002.

The bad news is the latest in a string for CMGI, once one of the highest-flying Internet companies. Yesterday, Engage , the CMGI-owned online advertising firm, released weak quarterly financial results, and its new CEO warned that it would have to "create a simpler, more efficient company" to survive the downturn in ad revenues.