Today’s snapshot: panorama for the year to date, just which Internet stocks are up, down or spinning all around in a market taking its cues from interest rate fears, Internet hypergrowth and merger mania?
First, back in January when I mentioned Go2Net (NASDAQ:GNET) as a top pick for 1999 there were few signs it would fit the bill. Through June 24 GNET led ISDEX by far in percentage gains, up 688%.
In the interim the few key things that set Go2Net apart in my mind were the quality of its management led by Russ Horowitz, its willingness to adapt, and its aggressive growth strategy. Those were likely the similar elements that billionaire Paul Allen saw when his Vulcan Venture Group investing arm agreed to acquire a major stake in Go2Net announced March 15.
Go2Net’s been non-stop since then, ramping out its Hypermart business hosting site, adding auctions, acquiring IQC (charting and technical analysis site) and more.
GNET had been on my radar since 1997 but I believe only now is it starting to come into its own as a portal/destination. I think Paul Allen’s 30% stake bodes well for the firm as Allen seeks to build out a Internet suite from front to back end, content/commerce to access.
CNET (NASDAQ:CNET) comes in #2 year to date with a stellar performance, up 288%. Driving this one I think was its positive earnings surprise in April and move into commerce with shopping/auction services. NBC investing in SNAP! and a series of other Internet spin out or investments from CNET — Vignette, the popular content server for another one — also positioned CNET as more than a nerdy news and resource site.
May 20 NASDAQ 100 added CNET to the roster, further boosting the Internet/cable content producer’s profile.
Before I go further let’s check the tally:
ISDEX ® | 24-Jun-99 | % change | Point change | % change | |
The Internet Stock Index | close | from | from | from | |
www.internet.com | 31-Dec-98 | 31-Dec-98 | 16-Jun-99 | ||
or 1999 IPO | or 1999 IPO | ||||
ISDEX | 500.18 | 48.4% | 163.17 | 4.7% | |
NASDAQ | 2,553.99 | 16.5% | 361.30 | 1.4% | |
DJIA | 10,534.83 | 14.7% | 1,353.40 | -2.3% | |
Go2Net | GNET | $ 139.38 | 688% | $ 121.69 | 21% |
CNET | CNET | $ 49.94 | 288% | $ 37.06 | 6% |
Doubleclick | DCLK | $ 81.69 | 267% | $ 59.44 | -6% |
CMG Info | CMGI | $ 96.50 | 262% | $ 69.88 | 4% |
RealNetworks | RNWK | $ 64.19 | 258% | $ 46.25 | 6% |
StarMedia | STRM | $ 49.63 | 231% | $ 34.63 | 23% |
E*TRADE | EGRP | $ 38.19 | 227% | $ 26.49 | 7% |
Broadcast.com | BCST | $ 115.31 | 201% | $ 77.06 | 6% |
Exodus | EXDS | $ 93.06 | 190% | $ 60.94 | 11% |
Verio | VRIO | $ 60.56 | 171% | $ 38.19 | 10% |
Security First Technologies | SONE | $ 36.38 | 139% | $ 21.13 | 5% |
PSINet | PSIX | $ 49.25 | 136% | $ 28.38 | 27% |
Infospace.com | INSP | $ 44.50 | 133% | $ 25.44 | 6% |
Concentric | CNCX | $ 37.25 | 124% | $ 20.63 | 34% |
Sportsline USA | SPLN | $ 32.31 | 108% | $ 16.75 | -6% |
Broadcom | BRCM | $ 107.69 | 78% | $ 47.31 | -5% |
Broadvision | BVSN | $ 57.00 | 78% | $ 25.00 | 1% |
iVillage | IVIL | $ 42.63 | 78% | $ 18.63 | 12% |
eBay | EBAY | $ 142.13 | 77% | $ 61.71 | -4% |
Inktomi | INKT | $ 113.75 | 76% | $ 49.06 | 5% |
Lycos | LCOS | $ 95.44 | 72% | $ 39.88 | 16% |
Prodigy | PRGY | $ 23.50 | 57% | $ 8.50 | 0% |
Xoom.com | XMCM | $ 47.38 | 44% | $ 14.38 | 3% |
@Home Network | ATHM | $ 53.00 | 43% | $ 15.88 | 12% |
America Online | AOL | $ 106.75 | 38% | $ 29.19 | 0% |
Mindspring | MSPG | $ 82.13 | 34% | $ 21.06 | 27% |
Beyond.com | BYND | $ 27.81 | 34% | $ 7.06 | 30% |
Cisco | CSCO | $ 60.25 | 30% | $ 13.84 | 4% |
Yahoo! | YHOO | $ 151.00 | 27% | $ 32.53 | 7% |
Verisign | VRSN | $ 72.94 | 23% | $ 13.81 | 30% |
24/7 Media | TFSM | $ 34.13 | 22% | $ 6.13 | 29% |
CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | $ 53.38 | 17% | $ 7.56 | 1% |
Open Market | OMKT | $ 13.25 | 13% | $ 1.56 | 4% |
Network Solutions | NSOL | $ 74.00 | 13% | $ 8.56 | 11% |
ISS Group | ISSX | $ 30.81 | 12% | $ 3.31 | 0% |
Preview Travel | PTVL | $ 20.44 | 11% | $ 2.00 | 32% |
VocalTec | VOCLF | $ 12.25 | 9% | $ 1.00 | 8% |
Earthlink Network | ELNK | $ 61.50 | 8% | $ 4.50 | 50% |
Amazon.Com | AMZN | $ 113.63 | 6% | $ 6.54 | 2% |
CDnow | CDNW | $ 17.81 | -1% | $ (0.19) | 15% |
Infoseek | SEEK | $ 46.19 | -6% | $ (3.19) | -6% |
CyberCash | CYCH | $ 12.44 | -17% | $ (2.56) | 4% |
Security Dynamics | SDTI | $ 18.06 | -21% | $ (4.94) | 8% |
USWeb | USWB | $ 20.13 | -24% | $ (6.25) | -2% |
Egghead.com | EGGS | $ 10.75 | -48% | $ (10.06) | 8% |
Onsale | ONSL | $ 18.13 | -55% | $ (21.94) | 0% |
Ticketmaster-CitySearch | TMCS | $ 23.00 | -59% | $ (33.00) | 2% |
Axent | AXNT | $ 11.25 | -63% | $ (19.31) | -2% |
Cyberian Outpost | COOL | $ 9.63 | -65% | $ (17.88) | -3% |
Network Associates | NETA | $ 15.00 | -77% | $ (51.25) | 10% |
But rather than go on about the top performers in ISDEX, there could be some nuggets perhaps found in those stocks at the bottom of the rung among the 11 stocks in ISDEX that showed a negative year to date percentage movement. It’s ironic to me that the local advertising market is the holy grail of advertising with more than $40 billion going to newspapers.
And right there in the local news and info market sits Ticketmaster-Citysearch (NASDAQ:TMCS). Quite honestly I don’t think the Website reflects TMCS’s girth in content or commerce. Its Match.com has 1.8 million hormonally-challenged members looking for dates, and CityAuction offers local auction in the vein of an eBay.
I also think that USWeb (NASDAQ:USWB), trading about 5x annualized revenue and trading well under 50% off its high holds some promise. USWB threw off $84 million revenue in first quarter 1999. Very few Internet companies come close to that. The $51 million loss came partly from merger costs (remember USWeb acquired marketing firm CKS).
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