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B2B Stocks Surge

Joe Bousquin

Several B2B stocks were sprinting ahead Wednesday, as investors were apparently anticipating strong quarterly results.

Commerce One (CMRC Quote) climbed 12%, PurchasePro.com (PPRO Quote) leapt ahead 14%, Clarus (CLRS Quote) rose 10% and Ventro (VNTR Quote) was up 14%.

"If you look at any of these companies individually, all of them are going to have a strong September, and people are getting a sense of that," said Patrick Walravens, B2B analyst at Lehman Brothers. "People have been holding off a bit in August, and in general, this is a sector that moves very fast. There are a lot of developments in the coming weeks."

For instance, by the quarter's end, he expects that VerticalNet (VERT Quote) will introduce new software, and PurchasePro will launch its site with America Online (AOL Quote). (Walravens rates PurchasePro an outperform and VerticalNet a buy. His firm has performed underwriting for VerticalNet, but not for PurchasePro.)

Meanwhile, i2 Technologies (ITWO Quote) said Wednesday that Sears (S Quote) would use its software to get a better handle on inventory at one of its units. Sears' HomeCentral business, whose 14,000 technicians make house calls to fix anything from refrigerators to washing machines, will use i2's software to boost productivity and cut parts inventory. i2's stock was up 4%.