The Green Bay Packers came to San Francisco’s 3COM Park and made the
49ers say “cheese” for the NFC championship title. The stats told of a
story of yards gained and lost, mud slung and packed, long bombs waiting
for a receiver to grab onto for a touchdown.
Sounds a lot like Internet stocks in the first weeks of 1998. Here’s our
own version of the Web bowl, stat-heavy of course, for the period January 6
to January 13, and since December 31, 1997:
The Playing Field: Internet
| ISDEX ® | Ticker | 13-Jan-98 | % change | Point change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet Stock Index | symbol | close | from | from | from |
| 06-Jan-98 | 06-Jan-98 | 31-Dec-97 | |||
| ISDEX Geometric Average | 99.92 | -1.7% | -1.69 | 0.1% | |
| ISDEX Price Wtd. Composite | 808.63 | -0.5% | -4.26 | -0.9% | |
| NASDAQ | 1,541.63 | -2.4% | -38.51 | -1.8% | |
| DJIA | 7,732.13 | -2.2% | -174.12 | -2.2% | |
| Amazon.Com * | AMZN | $ 55.75 | -4% | -$2.31 | -7% |
| America Online | AOL | $ 89.25 | -1% | -$0.75 | -1% |
| @Home Network * | ATHM | $ 24.94 | 10% | $2.31 | -1% |
| CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | $ 40.00 | 0% | $0.00 | -2% |
| CKS Group | CKSG | $ 14.38 | 4% | $0.50 | 2% |
| CMG Info | CMGI | $ 29.94 | 1% | $0.25 | -1% |
| CNET | CNWK | $ 26.00 | 6% | $1.38 | -12% |
| Concentric * | CNCX | $ 9.50 | -5% | -$0.50 | 7% |
| CyberCash | CYCH | $ 11.50 | -11% | -$1.38 | -9% |
| E*TRADE | EGRP | $ 22.84 | -7% | -$1.75 | -1% |
| Earthlink Network * | ELNK | $ 28.50 | 16% | $4.00 | 11% |
| Excite | XCIT | $ 33.19 | -2% | -$0.56 | 11% |
| Forefront | FFGI | $ 8.00 | -2% | -$0.13 | 2% |
| Infoseek | SEEK | $ 10.69 | -1% | -$0.06 | -1% |
| Lycos | LCOS | $ 36.38 | -12% | -$5.00 | -12% |
| Mecklermedia | MECK | $ 24.13 | -7% | -$1.88 | -3% |
| Mindspring | MSPG | $ 29.56 | 3% | $0.81 | -12% |
| N2K * | NTKI | $ 23.63 | 35% | $6.13 | 62% |
| Netscape | NSCP | $ 19.06 | 0% | $0.06 | -22% |
| Network Solutions * | NSOL | $ 18.13 | 7% | $1.25 | 38% |
| Onsale * | ONSL | $ 17.63 | -2% | -$0.38 | -2% |
| Open Market | OMKT | $ 10.63 | -1% | -$0.13 | 10% |
| Open Text | OTEXF | $ 11.50 | -5% | -$0.56 | -14% |
| PSINet | PSIX | $ 5.94 | -9% | -$0.59 | 16% |
| Raptor | RAPT | $ 12.13 | -10% | -$1.38 | -8% |
| RealNetworks * | RNWK | $ 16.38 | 17% | $2.38 | 18% |
| Security Dynamics | SDTI | $ 37.63 | -3% | -$1.19 | 5% |
| Security First Net Bank | SFNB | $ 6.88 | 0% | $0.00 | -5% |
| Sportsline USA * | SPLN | $ 17.88 | 34% | $4.50 | 66% |
| Spyglass | SPYG | $ 5.50 | 0% | $0.00 | 11% |
| Trusted Information Systems | TISX | $ 10.25 | 8% | $0.75 | 2% |
| USWeb * | USWB | $ 10.31 | -16% | -$1.94 | 10% |
| Versant Object Technologies | VSNT | $ 5.13 | -64% | -$9.25 | -63% |
| VocalTec | VOCLF | $ 19.75 | -3% | -$0.63 | -4% |
| Yahoo! | YHOO | $ 65.78 | 3% | $1.78 | -5% |
| TOTAL | 808.63 | -0.5% | -4.26 | -0.9% | |
| SIMPLE AVERAGE | 23.10 | -0.5% | -0.12 | -0.9% |
Jan 6: CMG Info (NASDAQ:CMGI) boasts of the deal between two of its
portfolio companies. Closely-held GeoCities, the free Web site presence
provider, inked a deal Jan. 5 with Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) to become
the exclusive homesteader on Yahoo! in return for investment from Yahoo! and
Japan’s Softbank. Lycos (NASDAQ:LCOS), which CMG owns more than 50% of, is
the exclusive search engine for GeoCities. Net net, CMG expects the Yahoo!
agreement to boost GeoCities and Lycos traffic.
Jan 7: Lycos (NASDAQ:LCOS) signs a multi-million dollar deal with
AutoConnect, one of the largest auto auction services in the U.S. with more
than six million cars run before buyers each year. AutoConnect will pay
Lycos an undisclosed sum that we estimate, based on our knowledge of
commerce deals like this, could be in the $10 million range with perhaps a
piece of sales also thrown in.
Jan 8: Excite (NASDAQ:XCIT) signs a deal with CyberMeals whereby the “order
online and get delivered to your door” food service will pay Excite $15.5
million over four years. Excite also gets a cut of sales for allowing
CyberMeals to be exclusive takeout food service on its network.
Jan 9: Sportsline USA (NASDAQ:SPLN) reports that fourth quarter page views
increased 251% vs. the same quarter last year to an average 2.8 million per
day. SPLN shares rallied on a tout from BA Robertson Stephens but closed
down on profit taking.
Jan 12: N2K (NASDAQ:NTKI) rallies on its preliminary 4Q and year-end
results with revenue expected of about $4.7 million, up 591% for 4Q, while
total year revenues may reach jump 559% to about $11.2 million vs. 1996.
The Web-based music reseller has enjoyed success largely through its first
to market status and agreements with high-profile Internet/online firms
including AOL.
Jan 12: Yahoo! is one step closer to taking on AOL (NYSE:AOL),
a move we forecast nearly two years ago on April 9,
1996 in the very first Internet Stock Report.
The latest news has it linking up with Internet backbone heavyweight MCI
(NASDAQ:MCIC) in a broad co-marketing and distribution agreement to launch
a new co-branded, co-marketed online service, Yahoo! Online, powered by MCI
Internet. In addition, Yahoo tops Relevant Knowledge’s Web site December
ranking with more than 16 million unique monthly users.
Jan. 13: Netscape (NASDAQ:NSCP) and Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL), through joint
venture Novonyx, ship Netscape software that runs on Novell’s NetWare
platform. Is Novell still a player? By some accounts, perhaps one of the
notable things about Novell’s NetWare may be its superior NDS or network
directory services.