Investors pushed commerce-friendly shares of ONSALE (NASDAQ:ONSL) up 31%
the past week as a new breed of buyer scoured the Internet stock space
looking for anything that could capitalize on the plethora of buyers and
sellers moving to the Web.
Our number crunching shows ONSL led the ISDEX pack followed closely by yet
another high for (the YAH?) of Yahoo!, up 26% this year, 20% of that coming
since March 3.
We have a hard time believing in YHOO at anything above
10x sales despite the hoopla. Better hunting was found in Infoseek
(NASDAQ:SEEK), the little stock that could.
Long trading at a miserable discount to its peer groups–less than half,
despite having solid traffic on its site–SEEK finally partly caught up. We
think it’ll take more than that to get it to move any more, with rumors
published in many media that SEEK was a takeover candidate. Any one of the
Internet group is a takeover candidate. No news there.
Our sense tells us the big media companies still don’t get it and probably
won’t bite. Anything less than 10 years old to them is “new media,” and in a
world where they count run of press and newsprint prices with a closer eye
than the Web, good luck to them.
Take New Century Network for example, the group of leading newspaper chains
that attempted an Internet service announced yesterday it will close down
after four years of effort. This provides a classic example of old media
approaching the Internet like an extension of itself.
In the end, too many paperpushers, politics, and unwillingness of the
newspaper giants to leverage the Web as its own medium and not an extension
of print.
More reasons why new startups and those yet to be born have a chance–those
that come from the Net rather than at it still have the upper hand. Our
latest tally:
ISDEX March 3 – 10
ISDEX ® | Ticker | 10-Mar-98 | % change | Point change | % change |
Internet Stock Index | symbol | close | from | from | from |
03-Mar-98 | 03-Mar-98 | 31-Dec-97 | |||
ISDEX Geometric Average | 147.16 | 9.5% | 12.80 | 47.4% | |
ISDEX Price Wtd. Composite | 1,144.92 | 10.5% | 108.77 | 42.6% | |
NASDAQ | 1,748.51 | -0.5% | -8.63 | 11.3% | |
DJIA | 8,643.12 | 0.7% | 58.29 | 9.3% | |
Onsale | ONSL | 35.00 | 31% | $8.25 | 94% |
Infoseek | SEEK | 20.75 | 25% | $4.13 | 93% |
Yahoo! | YHOO | 87.50 | 20% | $14.56 | 26% |
PSINet | PSIX | 9.06 | 19% | $1.44 | 77% |
Open Text | OTEXF | 19.75 | 19% | $3.13 | 48% |
CNET | CNWK | 39.06 | 18% | $6.06 | 32% |
USWeb | USWB | 21.22 | 18% | $3.22 | 126% |
Mindspring | MSPG | 63.88 | 17% | $9.38 | 90% |
Excite | XCIT | 55.88 | 17% | $8.13 | 86% |
Forefront | FFGI | 12.13 | 17% | $1.75 | 55% |
Network Solutions | NSOL | 23.19 | 17% | $3.31 | 77% |
CyberCash | CYCH | 14.56 | 17% | $2.06 | 15% |
Amazon.Com | AMZN | 83.11 | 16% | $11.36 | 38% |
Sportsline USA | SPLN | 29.94 | 15% | $3.94 | 178% |
RealNetworks | RNWK | 18.13 | 15% | $2.38 | 31% |
Concentric | CNCX | 16.25 | 15% | $2.13 | 83% |
@Home Network | ATHM | 37.38 | 15% | $4.88 | 49% |
CKS Group | CKSG | 20.88 | 13% | $2.44 | 48% |
CMG Info | CMGI | 60.75 | 12% | $6.63 | 101% |
Lycos | LCOS | 45.31 | 12% | $4.81 | 10% |
Earthlink Network | ELNK | 54.50 | 8% | $4.00 | 112% |
VocalTec | VOCLF | 23.75 | 7% | $1.50 | 16% |
America Online | AOL | 123.00 | 5% | $5.88 | 36% |
Security Dynamics | SDTI | 35.13 | 4% | $1.50 | -2% |
Trusted Information Systems | TISX | 20.75 | 3% | $0.63 | 108% |
N2K | NTKI | 25.31 | 0% | -$0.06 | 73% |
Open Market | OMKT | 18.03 | -1% | -$0.09 | 87% |
Spyglass | SPYG | 8.31 | -1% | -$0.09 | 68% |
Netscape | NSCP | 19.31 | -1% | -$0.25 | -21% |
E*TRADE | EGRP | 25.63 | -2% | -$0.56 | 11% |
Security First Net Bank | SFNB | 10.63 | -3% | -$0.38 | 47% |
Versant Object Technologies | VSNT | 7.13 | -7% | -$0.50 | -48% |
Mecklermedia | MECK | 24.75 | -7% | -$1.88 | -1% |
CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | 35.00 | -12% | -$4.88 | -14% |
TOTAL | 1,144.92 | 10% | 108.77 | 43% | |
SIMPLE AVERAGE | 33.67 | 10% | 3.20 | 43% |
03.10.98: VocalTec (NASDAQ:VOCLF), the IP communications company, agrees to
acquire RADLINX Ltd., which develops real-time online fax, email-to-fax and
fax-to-email transmission over IP networks. Deal value: $7.5 million to $9
million based on certain conditions. Another move as IP swallows legacy
communications mediums.
03.09.98: Security First Network Bank (NASDAQ:SFNB) reports Royal Bank of
Canada (NYSE:RY) U.S. subsidiary agrees to acquire the banking operations
of Atlanta-based SFNB for $20 million. In addition, RBC signs a technology
license to use SFNB’s S1 Internet banking software and has options to
acquire equity in SFNB.
Meanwhile, fourth quarter ending December 31, 1997, SFNB posts $9.2 million
net loss from continuing operations of $9.2 million, or $0.93 per share,
compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $9.8 million, or $1.19
per share, for 4Q96.
03.05.98: Mecklermedia announces NetSearcher.com, a vertical search engine
for Internet industry professionals which debuts today at Spring Internet
World in Los Angeles, March 11, the West Coast’s largest Internet trade
show and conference event.
03.04.98: N2K (NASDAQ:NTKI) files a secondary public offer of 3.8 million
shares, 2 million of which are from the company and the remainder from
selling stockholders. It’s important now for these new firms to cash up and
establish their brands so that the future revenue flow can occur. Right now
branding is everything, creating a stickiness to a Web-based business.
Without the brand nobody knows it’s there on the multi-million gigabit
ocean of Web sites out there.
03.04.98: CMG (NASDAQ:CMGI) CEO David Wetherell mentions on MSNBC that the
Internet investment firm looks to sell a third of its 42% ownership in
publicly-held Lycos (NASDAQ:LCOS). Price talk: $80 million. Have to take
profits sometime.