What looks hot for the IPO market this week?
Reply: Expect IPO sunshine from Sunrise Telecom.
The firm develops verification products for the telecom industry. Sunrise
will test services such as DSL, ISDN and ADSL. In fact, the company
recently launched a product that monitors cable networks. But perhaps the
most interesting technology is for fiber optic transmissions.
Sunrise has been running a strong organization. Last year, the
company had sales of $61.5 million and net income of $10.9 million.
I will write a full analysis of the company for
IPO Tracker
this week.
The lead underwriter is Chase H&Q and the proposed ticker symbol is SRTI.
The price range is $11-$13.
Profits: Only Thing that Matters Now?
In picking IPOs, should I only focus on profitable companies?
Reply: Definitely not. While the IPO market has favored profitable
companies lately, there are still great IPOs that have no profits. Rather,
it is critical to find those companies that have superior business models
that will result in profitability.
For example, even though
Network Engines is
not profitable, it should have a strong IPO this week (in the past six
months, the company lost $10 million on $10 million in revenues). The
company is a leading developer of server appliances. Basically, these help
companies integrate Net capabilities within existing networks.
However, the marketplace is potentially huge and profitable. According to
International Data Corporation, the server appliances market is expected soar
from $50 million in 1998 to $8 billion in 2003.
The lead underwriter is DLJ and the price range is $13-$15. The proposed
ticker symbol is NENG.
Permission Marketing: Letting Consumers Decide
What is permission marketing?
Reply: Traditionally, marketing has been “interruption advertising.”
But with the Web, this need not be the case. In fact, with consumers
being inundated with advertising, innovative approaches are sorely needed.
The guru of permission marketing is Seth Godin, who wrote a book on the
subject. He was also the chief marketer at Yoyodyne, which Yahoo!
purchased.
With permission marketing, you need to give before receiving. For example,
a marketer will provide some type of bait, like a free sample or an opinion
survey. If a consumer bites, then you can develop a long-run relationship.
