A long time ago in a geekdom far, far away, MS-DOS quietly hummed along and
kept many a PC thumping to some unheard beat that only fans of serious late
night parties held at Radio Shack or Tandy could understand. No more.
MS-DOS’ offspring, Windows, and its overtures to the Web make for headlines
around the world. Presidents and kings send e-mail.
All of which hasn’t been lost in the Beltway, Board room, or Big Board. By
our reckoning, it’s the Internet opportunity that’s been fueling
Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) market capitalization rise to north of $200
billion. Anti-trust allegations and consternation seem to have slowed that
steam down as Washington State’s biggest digital exporter’s attention has
been snagged by politicians and pork barrelers, which we think could open
windows (pun intended) of opportunity for rivals and others to attack the
beach head.
On the other hand, while we believe that this represents a speed bump on
Microsoft’s superbuyway, the softness in MSFT of late may only be a
footnote in the ongoing value chain of the great machine.
That’s the dramatic back drop to Wall Street’s drop the past week. Check
our latest tally:
ISDEX May 13 – 19
Mecklermedia’s | 19-May-98 | % change | Point change | % change | |
ISDEX ® | close | from | from | from | |
Internet Stock Index | 13-May-98 | 13-May-98 | 31-Dec-97 | ||
ISDEX Geometric Avg. | 149.93 | -4.6% | -7.31 | 50.1% | |
ISDEX Price Wtd. | 1,549.69 | -4.1% | -66.81 | 51.0% | |
NASDAQ | 1,845.87 | -1.1% | -20.31 | 17.5% | |
DJIA | 9,054.65 | -1.7% | -157.19 | 14.5% | |
CMG Info | CMGI | $ 51.00 | 5% | $2.38 | 237% |
CNET | CNWK | $ 39.69 | 4% | $1.63 | 35% |
Broadvision | BVSN | $ 15.84 | 4% | $0.59 | 144% |
Netscape | NSCP | $ 27.88 | 3% | $0.75 | 14% |
Versant Object Technologies | VSNT | $ 5.63 | 2% | $0.13 | -59% |
Cyberguard | CYBG | $ 13.75 | 2% | $0.25 | 144% |
Mindspring | MSPG | $ 61.81 | 2% | $1.00 | 84% |
Mecklermedia | MECK | $ 20.88 | 1% | $0.25 | -16% |
Security Dynamics | SDTI | $ 25.00 | 1% | $0.25 | -30% |
Onsale | ONSL | $ 30.13 | 1% | $0.19 | 67% |
Axent | AXNT | $ 25.84 | -1% | -$0.22 | 50% |
CyberCash | CYCH | $ 17.59 | -1% | -$0.16 | 39% |
IDT Corp | IDTC | $ 32.75 | -1% | -$0.31 | 62% |
Intuit | INTU | $ 49.38 | -1% | -$0.50 | 20% |
Excite | XCIT | $ 61.00 | -2% | -$1.25 | 103% |
America Online | AOL | $ 87.69 | -3% | -$2.31 | 94% |
Amazon.Com | AMZN | $ 90.38 | -3% | -$2.50 | 50% |
Network Associates | NETA | $ 66.63 | -3% | -$1.88 | 26% |
VocalTec | VOCLF | $ 17.38 | -3% | -$0.50 | -15% |
Spyglass | SPYG | $ 10.81 | -3% | -$0.31 | 119% |
Egghead.com | EGGS | $ 9.19 | -3% | -$0.31 | 41% |
Security First Net Bank | SFNB | $ 10.38 | -3% | -$0.38 | 43% |
CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | $ 30.50 | -4% | -$1.13 | -25% |
E*TRADE | EGRP | $ 23.00 | -4% | -$0.94 | 0% |
Concentric | CNCX | $ 22.50 | -4% | -$1.00 | 154% |
@Home Network | ATHM | $ 39.06 | -5% | -$1.88 | 55% |
Yahoo! | YHOO | $ 118.16 | -5% | -$5.84 | 71% |
Network Solutions | NSOL | $ 41.47 | -6% | -$2.47 | 216% |
WavePhore | WAVO | $ 13.75 | -6% | -$0.88 | 47% |
Verisign | VRSN | $ 35.88 | -6% | -$2.38 | 156% |
NewsEdge | NEWZ | $ 12.50 | -7% | -$0.88 | -7% |
PairGain | PAIR | $ 17.31 | -7% | -$1.25 | -11% |
Infoseek | SEEK | $ 30.13 | -7% | -$2.19 | 180% |
Broadband Technologies | BBTK | $ 7.50 | -7% | -$0.56 | 82% |
Sportsline USA | SPLN | $ 30.75 | -7% | -$2.38 | 186% |
Secure Computing | SCUR | $ 11.00 | -7% | -$0.88 | -7% |
Lycos | LCOS | $ 63.22 | -8% | -$5.22 | 53% |
CheckFree | CKFR | $ 22.63 | -8% | -$2.06 | -16% |
Open Text | OTEXF | $ 16.50 | -9% | -$1.63 | 23% |
RealNetworks | RNWK | $ 25.44 | -9% | -$2.56 | 83% |
Open Market | OMKT | $ 15.22 | -10% | -$1.66 | 58% |
Metricom | MCOM | $ 10.25 | -10% | -$1.13 | 6% |
CDnow | CDNW | $ 21.47 | -10% | -$2.41 | 34% |
Doubleclick | DCLK | $ 36.50 | -10% | -$4.13 | 115% |
USWeb | USWB | $ 20.94 | -10% | -$2.44 | 123% |
Earthlink Network | ELNK | $ 53.25 | -12% | -$6.94 | 107% |
CKS Group | CKSG | $ 19.50 | -12% | -$2.63 | 38% |
Cylink | CYLK | $ 11.06 | -12% | -$1.56 | 13% |
PSINet | PSIX | $ 11.19 | -13% | -$1.69 | 118% |
N2K | NTKI | $ 18.44 | -17% | -$3.81 | 26% |
TOTAL | 1,549.69 | -4% | -67.69 | 51% | |
SIMPLE AVERAGE | 30.99 | -4% | -1.35 | 51% |
XCIT to pay for its $70 million deal with Netscape and to raise working
capital. The move follows Lycos’ filing of 3 million shares on May 14. We
think all the search and guide sites in the top tier could (and should) tap
the public market to cash up for the coming battle with Microsoft in the
search space.
publisher of this report, agrees to acquire ISPCON trade show producer and
BoardWatch magazine publisher for $29.5 million cash and stock.
The buys help solidify Mecklermedia’s leading event and information source
status for Internet business professionals. Included in the acquisitions
are the Web sites Ispcon.com and Boardwatch.com, which will be integrated
with Mecklermedia’s Web resource network Internet.com.
revenues with $3.6 million first quarter revenue vs. $1.8 million 1Q97;
loss reaches $11.7 million or $0.69 loss per share vs. $13.9 million or
$1.03 loss per share. The wireless Internet access provider spent more
heavily on product costs, and while it narrowed losses, it’s still in
buildout mode. Its Ricochet access service is available in San Francisco
Bay, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., on a few corporate campuses, and 11
major airports in the U.S.
shares at a target of $11 per share. We think this could be one of those
high-profile Internet stock offers along the lines of Netscape, Yahoo! or
Broadcom that rocks Wall Street’s world and alters the investmentscape.
Look for our own unique analysis next week, significant in that I first saw
Pointcast in 1994 when one of its creators showed me it pre-alpha. There
must have been 5 employees at the time. I thought it was revolutionary
then, what about now? See ISR May 19 for our analysis.
Technologies (GPT) in a stock deal valued between $80 million to $100
million. The GPT acquisition will allow USWeb to offer more network
integration, network security, and voice over IP. We think intranets will
increasingly use the Web protocols for a range of network-based
communications and distribution. As such, this positions USWeb as a better
solution provider.
