Internet shares were giving way to blue chips in midday trading Thursday as another wave of selling was sweeping through the sector.
At 12:15 p.m. Eastern, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index was off 27.56, or 3.8 percent, to 698.28, the Nasdaq Composite was down 73.02 to 3,633.39 and the Dow Jones industrial average had jumped 114.48 to 10,789.44.
A number of leaders were under pressure, including Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), down 2-7/8 to 50-9/16, CMGI Inc. (CMGI) had tumbled 4-15/16 to 55-1/2, eBay Inc. (EBAY) was off 7-3/16 to 143-1/8 and Exodus Communications (EXDS) was off 10-39/64 to 101-17/64.
Also lower were Go2Net Inc. (GNET) was down 4-1/2 to 49-1/2, Inktomi Corp. (INKT) had lost 11-5/16 to 121-13/16, i2 Technologies (ITWO) was off 8-3/16 to 100 and Network Solutions Inc. (NSOL) was down 23-1/16 to 115-7/16 and .
Excite@Home (ATHM) was off 2-1/8 to 17-13/16. The cable Internet provider and portal company reported a first-quarter loss of $4.6 million, or 1 cent a share. Analysts had expected a break-even quarter. The company also warned it will lose money in 2000 as it increases spending to grow its subscriber base.
Verisign Inc. (VRSN) had fallen 22-5/16 to 108-5/8. The company reported a pro-forma net income of 2 cents a share in its latest quarter, one penny better than estimates.
VerticalNet Inc. (VERT) was off 1/8 to 40-3/4. The company Thursday was reiterated a “buy” by Patrick Walravens of Lehman Brothers.
Extreme Networks Inc. (EXTR) had dove 17-15/16 to 61-1/2. The high-speed networking company reported third-quarter earnings of 16 cents a share, 4 cents better than estimates.
Turning to good news, Terayon Communication Systems Inc. (TERN) was up 4-9/16 to 85-7/16. Cablevision Systems Corp. reached a deal with the high-speed modem maker to market its products in The Wiz electronics stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Commerce One Inc. (CMRC) had jumped 4-3/4 to 52-1/2. The e-commerce software maker reported a narrower-than-expected loss. E*Offering also reiterated its “strong buy.”
CNET Inc. (CNET) was up 2-15/16 to 34-7/16. The company reported pro-forma earnings of 2 cents in its latest quarter, 4 cents better than estimates.