Jupiter Media Metrix (JMXI Quote - Cramer on JMXI - Stock Picks) reported further thinning in the online atmosphere Thursday.
The New York company missed Wall Street's
lowered expectations by a penny, reporting a loss of 23 cents a share in the fourth quarter, blaming an acute slowdown in the Internet economy.
The company, which laid off 80 people, or 8%, of its staff last month, reported a loss of $7.9 million. In the year-ago period, Jupiter, which measures Internet audiences, had a loss of $10.7 million, or 31 cents a share. The year-ago figures represent the combined results of
Jupiter Communications and
Media Metrix, which merged in September 2000.
Jupiter's revenue increased to $38.5 million in the quarter from $18.6 million in the year-ago period. Six analysts polled by
First Call/Thomson Financial offered a consensus loss estimate of 22 cents a share.
On a conference call to discuss the quarter's results, Jupiter President Tod Johnson said the company's conferences business now looks even worse than it did in mid-January, when Jupiter warned of the fourth-quarter shortfall. Though analysts had revised estimates for 2001 conference revenue down to about $30 million after the preannouncement call, Jupiter says it now expects conference revenue to amount to $22 million at most.
First-quarter revenue for the industry get-togethers will amount to a paltry $750,000 to $1.25 million, says Jupiter; it has already canceled a Latin America Internet conference, and expects to cancel or reconfigure coming events.
Jupiter shares slipped 6 cents Thursday to $6.44. They were unchanged in light after-hours trading.
George Mannes
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