| Just when it looked like Internet stocks would wilt from the summer heat
Wall Street turns on the summer of love. Said another way, if Bob Dylan
sang this one it'd be "knock knock knockin' on heaven's door," as ISDEX,
Internet Stock Index, climbed a phenomenal 18% since June 16.
We count the price-weighted ISDEX in the tally but even the geometric
average showed 13% upside. Causing the fete de 'Street was a handful of
stocks in each sector. We painstakingly divided up ISDEX's 50-strong band
of angels into understandable groups in the table below: content, access,
commerce retailers, commerce-enablers, navigation, software, security, IP
communications, and high-speed solutions.
In true Internet fashion, the lines between them blur here and there where
any one firm is a hop away from getting into a new revenue stream by
offering similar services or sellthrough.
More Than a Little Wing: ISDEX June 16 - 23
|
Mecklermedia's |
|
23-Jun-98 |
% change |
Point change |
|
ISDEX ® |
|
close |
from |
from |
|
The Internet Stock Index |
|
|
16-Jun-98 |
16-Jun-98 |
|
where Wall Street meets the Web |
|
|
|
|
|
ISDEX Geometric Avg. |
|
150.88 |
13.1% |
17.52 |
|
ISDEX Price Wtd. |
|
1,695.41 |
18.4% |
263.78 |
|
NASDAQ |
|
1,844.57 |
5.2% |
91.45 |
|
DJIA |
|
8,828.46 |
1.9% |
163.17 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CONTENT |
|
|
|
|
|
CNET |
CNWK |
$67.56 |
48% |
$22.06 |
|
Sportsline USA |
SPLN |
$36.00 |
20% |
$5.88 |
|
WavePhore |
WAVO |
$12.63 |
9% |
$1.00 |
|
Mecklermedia |
MECK |
$21.00 |
3% |
$0.63 |
|
NewsEdge |
NEWZ |
$8.75 |
-35% |
-$4.63 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$145.94 |
|
$24.94 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$29.19 |
25% |
$4.99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ACCESS/SERVICES |
|
|
|
|
|
Earthlink Network |
ELNK |
$76.38 |
32% |
$18.38 |
|
Mindspring |
MSPG |
$78.38 |
31% |
$18.63 |
|
PSINet |
PSIX |
$12.75 |
23% |
$2.38 |
|
Concentric |
CNCX |
$27.00 |
14% |
$3.38 |
|
Metricom |
MCOM |
$8.75 |
-5% |
-$0.50 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$203.25 |
|
$42.25 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$40.65 |
26% |
$8.45 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COMMERCE RETAILERS |
|
|
|
|
|
Amazon.Com |
AMZN |
$92.69 |
26% |
$19.06 |
|
N2K |
NTKI |
$18.50 |
25% |
$3.75 |
|
Onsale |
ONSL |
$27.50 |
24% |
$5.38 |
|
CDnow |
CDNW |
$18.88 |
10% |
$1.69 |
|
E*TRADE |
EGRP |
$21.13 |
1% |
$0.22 |
|
Egghead.com |
EGGS |
$8.13 |
-2% |
-$0.13 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$186.81 |
|
$29.97 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$31.14 |
19% |
$4.99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COMMERCE ENABLERS |
|
|
|
|
|
CMG Info |
CMGI |
$60.75 |
33% |
$15.13 |
|
USWeb |
USWB |
$23.81 |
24% |
$4.56 |
|
Network Solutions |
NSOL |
$44.38 |
20% |
$7.38 |
|
Doubleclick |
DCLK |
$43.19 |
19% |
$6.75 |
|
CheckFree |
CKFR |
$27.31 |
14% |
$3.38 |
|
CyberCash |
CYCH |
$14.50 |
3% |
$0.44 |
|
CKS Group |
CKSG |
$20.75 |
-1% |
-$0.25 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$234.69 |
|
$37.38 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$33.53 |
19% |
$5.34 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NAVIGATION/AGGREGATORS |
|
|
|
|
|
Excite |
XCIT |
$82.75 |
23% |
$15.44 |
|
Yahoo! |
YHOO |
$148.06 |
21% |
$26.13 |
|
Lycos |
LCOS |
$68.75 |
21% |
$12.00 |
|
America Online |
AOL |
$106.25 |
19% |
$17.25 |
|
Intuit |
INTU |
$57.50 |
15% |
$7.31 |
|
@Home Network |
ATHM |
$39.25 |
6% |
$2.25 |
|
Infoseek |
SEEK |
$30.44 |
-8% |
-$2.69 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$533.00 |
|
$77.69 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$76.14 |
17% |
$11.10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOFTWARE |
|
|
|
|
|
RealNetworks |
RNWK |
$36.00 |
39% |
$10.06 |
|
Broadvision |
BVSN |
$19.44 |
19% |
$3.13 |
|
Open Market |
OMKT |
$18.13 |
19% |
$2.88 |
|
Spyglass |
SPYG |
$11.50 |
14% |
$1.38 |
|
Netscape |
NSCP |
$26.19 |
8% |
$1.91 |
|
Open Text |
OTEXF |
$15.19 |
-3% |
-$0.44 |
|
Versant Object Technologies |
VSNT |
$4.38 |
-4% |
-$0.19 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$130.81 |
|
$18.72 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$18.69 |
17% |
$2.67 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SECURITY |
|
|
|
|
|
Verisign |
VRSN |
$38.25 |
41% |
$11.13 |
|
Cylink |
CYLK |
$10.44 |
16% |
$1.44 |
|
Network Associates |
NETA |
$45.31 |
11% |
$4.44 |
|
Axent |
AXNT |
$29.38 |
10% |
$2.69 |
|
Cyberguard |
CYBG |
$8.88 |
8% |
$0.69 |
|
Security First Net Bank |
SFNB |
$10.50 |
6% |
$0.56 |
|
Secure Computing |
SCUR |
$9.00 |
4% |
$0.38 |
|
CheckPoint Software |
CHKPF |
$28.63 |
3% |
$0.88 |
|
Security Dynamics |
SDTI |
$17.09 |
-10% |
-$1.91 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$197.47 |
|
$20.28 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$21.94 |
11% |
$2.25 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IP COMMUNICATIONS |
|
|
|
|
|
IDT Corp |
IDTC |
$28.00 |
9% |
$2.38 |
|
VocalTec |
VOCLF |
$11.63 |
7% |
$0.75 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$39.63 |
|
$3.13 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$19.81 |
9% |
$1.56 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HIGH-SPEED SOLUTIONS |
|
|
|
|
|
PairGain |
PAIR |
$19.13 |
38% |
$5.25 |
|
Broadband Technologies |
BBTK |
$4.69 |
-4% |
-$0.19 |
|
TOTAL |
|
$23.81 |
|
$5.06 |
|
WEIGHTED AVERAGE |
|
$11.91 |
27% |
$2.53 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OVERALL TOTAL |
|
3,673.80 |
18% |
562.70 |
|
SIMPLE AVERAGE |
|
54.03 |
18% |
8.28 |
Much of the movement stems from the geekfest brewing striking a chord. We
reiterate the way the mergermania and plain old common sense pairings could
play out in the next 18 to 24 months on our back of the napkin scribble
that looks like this:
AT&T + Yahoo; Sprint + Earthlink + Excite; MCI + Mindspring + Lycos; NBC +
CNET 100%; Time Warner + AOL; IBM or Sun + Netscape.
What we have look like disparate elements of the same goal = a complete or
rounded Internet experience. This scenario is speculation but we suspect
may range from partnering to full acquisition.
A closer look at the pops and drops:
CNET (NASDAQ:CNWK) continues to find favor after its June 9
agreement whereby NBC will acquire 4.99% in CNET for $26 million and a 19%
ownership stake in Snap! CNWK was a $30-$35 stock before the deal fever
began. Closes June 23 at $67.56 per share.
Earthlink (NASDAQ:ELNK) and Mindspring (NASDAQ:MSPG) give more of
the right stuff that got them to the top of the access heap this year;
Earthlink through new marketing arrangements and Mindspring through a
relentless acquisition spree that goes on and on and on with the latest
being ISPs in Florida and Louisiana.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) more than doubled since we wrote our report on
its possible room to go up in the April
24th edition of Internet Stock Report. The big deal was music, backed
up by deep pockets through its $325 million bond placement. Rivals CDnow
(NASDAQ:CDNW) and N2K (NASDAQ:NTKI) also post positive percentages. We
expect a showdown in the exclusive sponsor space as Amazon, which bought
the book space on many high-traffic sites, bumps deals with the other two,
both of which bought the music sponsorship on many of the same sites.
Having spurned Zapata's fruitless bid, Excite (NASDAQ:XCIT) seems to
be the target of target talk. Especially since peer Infoseek (NASDAQ:SEEK)
sells almost half of itself to Mickey Mouse for what looks like "Mickey
Mouse" prices--we figure $15.27 per share. See ISR Archives, June
19 for that. Impatient SEEK shareholders may want to consider, however,
what future value Disney brings to SEEK before e-mailing the bearded ladies
investment club for advice (as you may have heard, they are off a few
percents here and there).
The driver behind Internet stocks these days is deals and steals. All along
the watchtower investors listen for the next act to take center stage.
Content? Commerce? Security? The latter seems overdue for a tune.
 I could use some help again...
 Lost Licences |
Electric: Internet Stocks Gain 18% in Past Week