They huffed and puffed and blew the house down but it rebounded back. Internet stocks that is. ISDEX gains back half the losses from yesterday as investors can’t seem to keep a good thing down.
Between Thursday of last week through Monday the correction was about 30% across the board making this a “true” correction in my book and not a pause.
The plethora of better-than-expected results and overall first-quarter numbers coming out today especially provides some positive news that lifts the Internet sector.
The snapshot:
E*TRADE (NASDAQ:EGRP) reports better-than-expected at a loss of $0.12 per share vs. an expected $0.17 from consensus estimates. Online stock trades soar to 70,000 per day. Accounts jump 39% vs. the previous quarter to 909,000 with $21.1 billion assets managed. EGRP closes up 22% at $89.8125 per share.
Lycos (NASDAQ:LCOS) for the first time ever beat Yahoo in number of unique monthly users according to online survey firm Media Metrix, 31.9 million in April vs. Yahoo’s 31.3 million. That puts Lycos (through its Tripod, Angelfire, Wired Digital and Lycos search guide properties) at more than 50% Internet reach. Another reason why I think Lycos ought to command more of a premium than what USA Networks has offered, not in terms of value but pro forma percentage ownership.
For those new to the deal USA Networks wants to merge with Lycos and allocate 30% of the combined firm to Lycos.
Prodigy (NASDAQ:PRGY) reports first-quarter revenue of $35.9 million, up slightly from 1Q98’s $33.4 million. Net loss reaches $15.7 million vs. net loss of $16.6 million 1Q98. I like Prodigy’s focus on Spanish-language ISP providing but think that market may take awhile to develop. And I doubt AOL-Cisneros Group will be standing still. On the pro side Prodigy majority owner Telmex has some clout in Mexico as the leading telco and ISP.
