Software, Etc. Security First Finds Footing In Code, Not Cash

When Security First Network Bank announced it would ditch the online
banking biz for the banking software biz, Wall Street scratched its head.
But in the past week investors kicked and scratched themselves to push up
SFNB shares more than 30%.


The simple math says there may be more opportunity in licensing its
financial software so banks can set up Web shops than collecting accounts.
Security First’s trials and tribulations in building that bank, however,
led it to create the software. Software First?


Excite’s (NASDAQ:XCIT) upside since January 27 came largely as
pundits look for an alternative to the high-flying Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO).
Similarly, Mindspring (NASDAQ:MSPG), which provides dialup access, ran on
the belief that AOL is not made of Teflon forever.


Einstein’s theory of relativity has Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) in the plus side,
up 26% to $8.13 per share. But VSNT traded double digits, upper $20s last
year, so it’s relative indeed. Will it return from whence it came or has
Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) convinced everyone it’s the wizard of ahs?


RealNetwork (NASDAQ:RNWK) may be in real trouble as an emerging battle with
Microsoft looms. Still, in our view there’s at least three businesses in
Real’s basket: videocast, audiocast, and software. The former two–if they
created networks–could be undiscovered value under RNWK’s hood. We’ll
see if Rob Glaser can hotwire those.


Have a look at our stat fest of movers, shakers, tremblers, and tumblers
for theweek of January 27-February 3:



The Internet Stock Index Ups & Downs




















































































































































































































































































































































































ISDEX ®

Ticker

03-Feb-98

% change

Point change

% change

Internet Stock Index

symbol

close

from

from

from

©1998 Mecklermedia

 

 

27-Jan-98

27-Jan-98

31-Dec-97

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISDEX Geometric Average

 

112.83

8.2%

8.52

13.0%

ISDEX Price Wtd. Composite

 

902.16

8.5%

70.88

10.5%

NASDAQ

 

1,666.34

5.5%

87.44

6.1%

DJIA

 

8,160.35

4.4%

345.34

3.2%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Security First Net Bank

SFNB

$9.63

31%

$2.25

33%

Excite

XCIT

$49.19

29%

$11.09

64%

Raptor

RAPT

$15.19

27%

$3.19

15%

Versant Object Technologies

VSNT

$8.13

26%

$1.69

-41%

E*TRADE

EGRP

$24.75

24%

$4.84

8%

CKS Group

CKSG

$17.06

22%

$3.06

21%

Forefront

FFGI

$10.94

22%

$1.94

40%

Mindspring

MSPG

$38.75

18%

$5.94

15%

Sportsline USA

SPLN

$24.38

15%

$3.19

127%

USWeb

USWB

$13.63

14%

$1.69

45%

CMG Info

CMGI

$36.75

11%

$3.63

21%

Security Dynamics

SDTI

$35.56

9%

$3.06

-1%

America Online

AOL

$99.75

9%

$8.44

10%

Concentric

CNCX

$10.81

9%

$0.91

22%

Onsale

ONSL

$26.94

9%

$2.13

50%

Amazon.Com

AMZN

$61.81

8%

$4.81

3%

Spyglass

SPYG

$5.81

8%

$0.44

18%

Yahoo!

YHOO

$64.84

8%

$4.78

-6%

Netscape

NSCP

$18.19

8%

$1.31

-25%

Earthlink Network

ELNK

$33.00

7%

$2.13

28%

Lycos

LCOS

$41.00

7%

$2.53

-1%

CNET

CNWK

$32.88

6%

$1.88

11%

VocalTec

VOCLF

$20.00

5%

$1.00

-2%

@Home Network

ATHM

$24.38

5%

$1.06

-3%

PSINet

PSIX

$7.50

4%

$0.31

46%

CheckPoint Software

CHKPF

$36.13

4%

$1.38

-11%

Open Text

OTEXF

$12.00

1%

$0.13

-10%

Open Market

OMKT

$10.19

-1%

-$0.06

6%

Infoseek

SEEK

$11.94

-1%

-$0.09

11%

Trusted Information Systems

TISX

$9.94

-2%

-$0.19

-1%

Mecklermedia

MECK

$26.38

-3%

-$0.88

6%

CyberCash

CYCH

$10.50

-5%

-$0.50

-17%

Network Solutions

NSOL

$18.13

-9%

-$1.69

38%

RealNetworks

RNWK

$15.00

-10%

-$1.63

8%

N2K

NTKI

$21.13

-12%

-$2.88

44%

TOTAL

 

902.16

8.5%

70.88

10.5%

SIMPLE AVERAGE

 

25.78

8.5%

2.03

10.5%


  • January 28: WorldCom (NASDAQ:WCOM) files $5 billion debt
    registration. In
    case anyone forgot, this is the firm in the process of acquiring MCI for
    more than $37 billion. Once merged it will control more than 50% of current
    Internet backbone traffic. But high-speed networks may be on the horizon.
    Cable coaxial. Will acquisitive WorldCom be overleveraged if new wires are
    needed?
  • January 29: AOL (NYSE:AOL) plans to sell majority equity in a new entity
    that rolls its AOL France and (pending) CompuServe France into a larger
    online service with 200,000 users. The venture combines Bertelsmann, Canal+
    and Cegetel Internet services under the AOL banner.
  • January 30: Netscape (NASDAQ:NSCP) reports that a study by Media Metrix
    shows that Netscape’s “Netcenter” was the most popular site visited by
    business Internet users. Says 2.6 million members signed up on free
    service. Media company in the making?
  • January 30: Versant Object Technologies (NASDAQ:VSNT) quarter ending
    December, 1997 revenue jumps to $8.6 million from $5.6 million 4Q96. Loss
    reaches $2
    million vs. earnings of $696k 4Q96. Annual revenue is $29 million vs. $18
    million with annual losses of $2.3 million or $0.26 loss per share vs.
    earnings in 1996 of $1.4 million or $0.18 EPS.
  • February 2: CompuServe is now part of WorldCom (NASDAQ:WCOM) and AOL
    (NYSE:AOL) as the $1.3 billion deal finally goes through. WorldCom spun off
    CompuServe’s consumer accounts to AOL while it keeps the network side.
    Former 80% CompuServe shareholder H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) now owns 3% of WCOM.

  • 02.03: Lycos (NASDAQ:LCOS), spurned from acquiring GeoCities
    probably due to its high asking price, acquires another Web community
    company, Tripod, for $58 million stock. Our analysis shows the deal values
    Tripod’s 1.5 million “members” at $38.67 each or 58 cents per monthly page
    view.

  • 02.03: Mecklermedia (NASDAQ:MECK), producer of this report, posts
    $23.3 million revenue for its first quarter ending Dec. 31 vs. $17.4
    million for the same period last year. Net income reaches $3.1 million vs.
    $2.1 million, or $0.36 vs. $0.25, respectively.

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