Forget that pink bunny that keeps going and going and going. ISDEX
seems to have had its share of high-energy this past week as the leading
pure play index of Internet stocks beat the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P, no small
rabbit and hat trick in a market ruled by blue chip bulls.
Since the start of the year ISDEX is up about 50% and up an
incredible 120% since last April when it hovered at an all-time low. That’s
when you could have picked up a handful of search stocks for under $15
each, some under $10. That’s also when the “push” mania erupted and the
search engines looked like toast.
We’re partly convinced that search may always be relevant based on the fact
that people’s needs fluctuate and that push may not always deliver what you
want.
We’re also convinced, however, that inside the corporation broadcast (push
via another name) of data and information may be larger than employee hunt
and peck via search sites.
That’s because corporate bandwidth is expensive and it will be
managed as an investment, not a gee whiz surfing experience. In late ’98
and early ’99, broadcast servers may emerge again and rule intranets
henceforth.
So is search dead? No. Consumers may always want a window seat on the Web.
Expect more divergence here between business intranets and the consumer
Internet.
Our latest tally of moved, shaken, or all shook up:
ISDEX March 17 – 24:
ISDEX ® | 24-Mar-98 | % change | Point change | % change | |
Internet Stock Index | close | from | from | from | |
www.isdex.com | 17-Mar-98 | 17-Mar-98 | 31-Dec-97 | ||
ISDEX Geometric Average | 149.23 | 2.6% | 3.80 | 49.4% | |
ISDEX Price Wtd. Composite | 1,489.94 | 3.1% | 45.06 | 34.6% | |
NASDAQ | 1,812.44 | 1.9% | 33.14 | 15.4% | |
DJIA | 8,904.44 | 1.8% | 154.45 | 12.6% | |
(sorted by percent gains) | |||||
Cyberguard | CYBG | $11.44 | 33% | $2.81 | 103% |
Axent | AXNT | $27.78 | 22% | $5.00 | 61% |
N2K | NTKI | $29.38 | 20% | $4.94 | 101% |
RealNetworks | RNWK | $22.44 | 20% | $3.69 | 62% |
Mindspring | MSPG | $67.19 | 17% | $9.63 | 100% |
PairGain | PAIR | $22.25 | 10% | $2.00 | 15% |
IDT Corp | IDTC | $37.19 | 10% | $3.25 | 84% |
Sportsline USA | SPLN | $29.03 | 9% | $2.50 | 170% |
PSINet | PSIX | $10.69 | 8% | $0.81 | 109% |
E*TRADE | EGRP | $24.06 | 8% | $1.81 | 5% |
Security Dynamics | SDTI | $41.25 | 7% | $2.81 | 15% |
CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | $44.38 | 6% | $2.63 | 9% |
America Online | AOL | $67.88 | 6% | $3.88 | 50% |
Network Solutions | NSOL | $29.13 | 6% | $1.63 | 122% |
Amazon.Com | AMZN | $84.25 | 5% | $4.38 | -7% |
CDnow | CDNW | $24.97 | 5% | $1.28 | 56% |
Versant Object Technologies | VSNT | $8.00 | 5% | $0.38 | -42% |
CMG Info | CMGI | $57.63 | 4% | $2.44 | 90% |
USWeb | USWB | $22.41 | 4% | $0.91 | 139% |
Lycos | LCOS | $42.25 | 4% | $1.63 | 2% |
Intuit | INTU | $46.84 | 4% | $1.72 | 14% |
Yahoo! | YHOO | $86.81 | 4% | $2.97 | 25% |
Earthlink Network | ELNK | $54.00 | 3% | $1.50 | 110% |
Onsale | ONSL | $32.25 | 2% | $0.63 | 79% |
Secure Computing | SCUR | $14.13 | 1% | $0.19 | 20% |
Excite | XCIT | $49.59 | 0% | $0.22 | 65% |
Verisign | VRSN | $44.50 | 0% | $0.16 | 218% |
Infoseek | SEEK | $18.50 | 0% | $0.06 | 72% |
Open Market | OMKT | $18.97 | 0% | $0.06 | 97% |
VocalTec | VOCLF | $20.50 | 0% | $0.00 | 0% |
CNET | CNWK | $32.97 | 0% | -$0.03 | 12% |
WavePhore | WAVO | $9.69 | 0% | -$0.03 | 3% |
Cylink | CYLK | $13.50 | 0% | -$0.06 | 38% |
Netscape | NSCP | $19.13 | -1% | -$0.13 | -22% |
Concentric | CNCX | $18.63 | -1% | -$0.13 | 110% |
Spyglass | SPYG | $8.44 | -1% | -$0.06 | 71% |
Broadvision | BVSN | $16.75 | -1% | -$0.13 | 158% |
Open Text | OTEXF | $19.63 | -2% | -$0.50 | 47% |
Metricom | MCOM | $9.44 | -3% | -$0.25 | -2% |
Broadband Technologies | BBTK | $7.69 | -3% | -$0.25 | 86% |
Security First Net Bank | SFNB | $9.13 | -4% | -$0.38 | 26% |
NewsEdge | NEWZ | $12.75 | -5% | -$0.63 | -5% |
CheckFree | CKFR | $22.75 | -5% | -$1.19 | -16% |
Mecklermedia | MECK | $23.50 | -6% | -$1.38 | -6% |
Egghead.com | EGGS | $10.25 | -7% | -$0.75 | 58% |
@Home Network | ATHM | $32.94 | -7% | -$2.50 | -45% |
Network Associates | NETA | $64.63 | -8% | -$5.56 | 22% |
Doubleclick | DCLK | $31.94 | -9% | -$3.06 | 88% |
CyberCash | CYCH | $16.25 | -9% | -$1.63 | 28% |
CKS Group | CKSG | $20.31 | -12% | -$2.69 | 44% |
TOTAL | 1,489.94 | 3% | 44.56 | 35% | |
SIMPLE AVERAGE | 29.80 | 3% | 0.89 | 35% |
automated help desk and asset management firm Magic Solutions for $110
million cash. NETA plans on taking $90 million charge for the deal.
Deutsche Telekom Online Service, Europe’s largest Internet access provider;
Axel Springer Verlag, Germany’s largest consumer media company; and
Holtzbrinck, Germany’s premier publisher across all media, specializing in
business news and information. Infoseek will be the search front end.
and for general working capital purposes. The business ISP’s stock hasn’t
enjoyed the run that consumer ISPs have had this year. This is ironic because
business access accounts are lower in churn and higher in revenue and
margin.
Software.net to allow it to sell software on AOL and AOL.com. AOL also
invests $2 million for a small piece of equity in the firm and will receive
ad split revenue after a certain threshold. Software delivery is via
download and shrink wrap.
shares of its common stock, 2.3 million from SportsLine and 1.7 million
from shareholders. Underwriters: BancAmerica Robertson Stephens,
NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, PaineWebber, and Salomon Smith Barney.
Sportsline cashes up for the Web sports content wars.
its first quarter of fiscal 1998, up 32%. Net income falls 41% to $1.1
million, loss of $0.07 per share vs. $0.12 per share. Our short take, CKS
seems to have stymied itself in analog interpretations of how to do
business on the Internet, which is a digital domain.
