It took a big day on Wednesday, but internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, or
ISDEX, reversed its September slide this
week with a 3.2% gain.
Leading the charge on Wednesday was online auction leader eBay , which gained 16.6% after the company issued a bullish revenue
projection, setting a goal of 50% year-to-year revenue growth through 2005.
Through Wednesday’s trading, the ISDEX is down 3.9% for the month and 6.4%
for the year. Given that 91% of all ‘Net stocks have dropped in value in
2000 – with four out of five losing at least 30% – the ISDEX is hanging
pretty tough in the midst of this prolonged bear mauling.
Eleven of the 50 ISDEX stocks (or 22%) have posted gains this year. This
might not sound like much to brag about, but you only have to look at the
performance of non-ISDEX Internet stocks to put it in proper perspective: 19
of the 243 ‘Net tickers not on the ISDEX are up this year through
Wednesday’s trading. That’s a mere 7.8%.
Further, the ISDEX includes this year’s two top gainers, Juniper Networks
(up 288%) and Check Point Software Technologies
(up 222%).
eBay’s surge on Wednesday propelled it to the top of the ISDEX for the week
with a 22.5% advance. Other top ISDEX gainers this week:
Inktomi , up 18.5%: The search engine and caching server
software leader got a pair of boosts this week. First, Inktomi announced
plans to purchase online broadcasting company FastForward Networks for $1.3
billion, sending shares up 12% last Thursday. Shares rose another 5% on
Wednesday after Inktomi announced an initiative to deliver a set of
integrated search tools designed to allow Internet, corporate and wireless
customers to search across the Web, intranets and extranets.
Phone.com , up 15%: Since plummeting to $56 per share on
April 14 – a 60% drop from its April 7 close of $140.25 – the wireless
Internet software provider has clawed and scratched its way back over $100,
closing Wednesday at $101.38. This week’s gain appears to be a continuation
of momentum from PHCM’s announced purchase of Internet messaging software
maker Software.com for $6.4 billion. PHCM shares have
risen 30% since the deal was unveiled in early August.
