Sometimes a company name can be prescient as in the case
of Go2Net, which Paul Allen invested in this week and did just that. The
inspired move sent Go2Net (NASDAQ:GNET) shares going ballistic, up 48% the
past week and 612% year to date.
Allen agreed to invest $750 million in
Go2Net for a 54% stake. Allen’s Vulcan Venture unit invested $300 million
in convertible preferred and the venture firm will also make a tender offer
for 5 million shares of GNET at $90.
Just when you thought the top 10
Web sits in the world dominated the deal action this agreement vaults
Go2net into the same cash league as Yahoo, with a great partner in Allen,
who owns cable, motion picture and Internet interests.
As one of my ones
to watch in 1999 it has been an exciting move so far. The second-biggest
shaker since March 9 was Verio (NASDAQ:VRIO) which cut a deal with orb and
on-ramp leader AOL. Verio will pay AOL more than $40 million to become
AOL’s hosting service. Revenue splits make the deal make sense for Verio,
up 33% on the sanctioning by the online leader.
Overall the ISDEX was up
7.4%, leading the Dow and NASDAQ. Year to date numbers are 81% for ISDEX,
making the other two indices reflective of eras gone by. Let’s see the
numbers:
ISDEX ® | 16-Mar-99 | % change | Point change | % change | |
The Internet Stock Index | close | from | from | from | |
www.isdex.com | 02-Mar-99 | 02-Mar-99 | 31-Dec-98 | ||
ISDEX | 518.86 | 7.4% | 35.71 | 81.0% | |
NASDAQ | 2,439.27 | 1.9% | 46.33 | 11.2% | |
DJIA | 9,930.47 | 2.4% | 236.74 | 8.2% | |
Go2Net | GNET | $126.00 | 48% | $41.13 | 612% |
Verio | VRIO | $48.69 | 33% | $12.13 | 118% |
CyberCash | CYCH | $16.00 | 33% | $3.94 | 7% |
Network Solutions | NSOL | $262.00 | 28% | $57.06 | 100% |
RealNetworks | RNWK | $115.00 | 25% | $22.88 | 221% |
Doubleclick | DCLK | $130.50 | 19% | $21.25 | 193% |
Infospace.com | INSP | $77.00 | 19% | $12.50 | 102% |
Exodus | EXDS | $116.25 | 19% | $18.25 | 81% |
Netscape | NSCP | $94.06 | 18% | $14.56 | 55% |
Broadvision | BVSN | $61.00 | 17% | $9.00 | 91% |
America Online | AOL | $104.94 | 16% | $14.81 | 35% |
PSINet | PSIX | $40.75 | 16% | $5.63 | 95% |
E*TRADE | EGRP | $56.88 | 15% | $7.31 | 143% |
Cyberian Outpost | COOL | $21.38 | 14% | $2.69 | -22% |
Earthlink Network | ELNK | $73.28 | 12% | $8.03 | 29% |
Open Market | OMKT | $13.56 | 12% | $1.44 | 16% |
CDnow | CDNW | $17.81 | 11% | $1.81 | -1% |
Sportsline USA | SPLN | $56.00 | 11% | $5.63 | 260% |
N2K | NTKI | $14.31 | 10% | $1.31 | 10% |
Lycos | LCOS | $105.50 | 10% | $9.25 | 90% |
ISS Group | ISSX | $84.13 | 10% | $7.38 | 53% |
USWeb | USWB | $42.06 | 9% | $3.38 | 59% |
Mindspring | MSPG | $98.44 | 7% | $6.81 | 61% |
Infoseek | SEEK | $80.88 | 7% | $5.56 | 64% |
Xoom.com | XMCM | $63.75 | 6% | $3.50 | 93% |
Egghead.com | EGGS | $15.75 | 5% | $0.75 | -24% |
CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | $43.06 | 5% | $1.94 | -6% |
Yahoo! | YHOO | $174.88 | 5% | $7.56 | 48% |
Beyond.com | BYND | $24.38 | 4% | $0.88 | 17% |
GeoCities | GCTY | $112.38 | 4% | $4.00 | 234% |
Amazon.Com | AMZN | $133.81 | 3% | $3.88 | 25% |
24/7 Media | TFSM | $28.00 | 2% | $0.63 | 0% |
Broadcom | BRCM | $63.38 | 2% | $1.38 | 5% |
Inktomi | INKT | $75.50 | 2% | $1.63 | 17% |
Security First Technologies | SONE | $68.50 | 2% | $1.25 | 125% |
VocalTec | VOCLF | $11.25 | 2% | $0.19 | 0% |
Cisco | CSCO | $106.00 | 1% | $0.69 | 14% |
Broadcast.com | BCST | $90.50 | 1% | $0.50 | 137% |
Verisign | VRSN | $124.50 | 1% | $0.69 | 111% |
Onsale | ONSL | $39.38 | -2% | -$0.63 | -2% |
Preview Travel | PTVL | $22.63 | -2% | -$0.38 | 23% |
Concentric | CNCX | $58.69 | -2% | -$1.31 | 77% |
@Home Network | ATHM | $119.50 | -2% | -$3.00 | 61% |
Axent | AXNT | $33.63 | -4% | -$1.25 | 10% |
eBay | EBAY | $157.81 | -5% | -$8.44 | 96% |
Excite | XCIT | $107.00 | -6% | -$6.25 | 154% |
CMG Info | CMGI | $180.75 | -7% | -$13.69 | 239% |
Security Dynamics | SDTI | $16.50 | -7% | -$1.31 | -28% |
Network Associates | NETA | $42.19 | -12% | -$6.00 | -36% |
CNET | CNET | $96.94 | -13% | -$14.25 | 276% |
Note CNET (NASDAQ:CNET) coming in at dead last in the ISDEX this week,
down 13%. It ran all year on deal fervor and expectations of an NBC taking
it to the altar of never-ending media bliss. Up 276% for 1999 makes up for
the week’s softness I believe.
Other news and moves:
I think the Web marketing solutions company holds great potential for
outsourcing Web presences for corporations. The integration of CKS adds the
personal touch to the marketing effort. USWB closes up 6.5% to $42.0625 per
share.
convertible subordinated notes. I see the move indicative of the new
capital requirements to compete on a global level for any Internet company
that wants to grab a broad category. It’s getting more expensive. The
offering comes on the heels of Sportsline’s announcement that its page
views hit an all-time record over this past NCAA basketball weekend: 65
million page views, up 72% vs. last year.
profit taking. The company reported earnings yesterday of $14.1 million,
$0.30 EPS from the sale of Lycos, Amazon and GeoCities shares, for its
fiscal second quarter ending January 31, 1999. excluding those gains losses
are $0.40 per share, almost double the consensus of First Call.
The Internet venture and operating firm said in its conference call CMGI
indicated it wasn’t looking at splitting its shares, which it just did in
January.
yesterday with a 20-plus point gain, drops 11% today as the content and
commerce wholesaler files a follow-on 2.8 million offering. I see the cash
it could raise as necessary for the hypergrowth in the segment. Dilution of
shares will happen, but the net gain could be on the plus side as scale
turns into top and bottom line over time.
throwing some caution to the wind and buying into that sentiment, rather
than doing due diligence. Example: VerticalNet (NASDQ:VERT) soars 32% to
$96.25 per share on a “buy” tout from Hambrecht & Quist. But I would
caution that while stocks such as VERT, in particular, have a great mission
statement–to address various industries with custom Web sites and info–I
would like to see more cash on its cash flow statement before supporting
its current valuation.
HotWatch ’99 by Steve Harmon offers a monthly insight into the hottest
stocks in the Internet, his top picks for 1999. Last year’s picks by Steve
gained 312%. Each month a new report, delivered to you click here for more info –
Accolades for Internet Stock Report:
"Fresh and provocative" -CBS
Marketwatch, who named
Steve Harmon one of the top Internet stock analysts and only independent
one honored
"I am a huge fan of Steve Harmon’s analysis"
-Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr
