Homestore Soars After Signing Listings Deal With iWon

Homestore.com (HOMS Quote - Cramer on HOMS - Stock Picks) shares climbed 31% Tuesday after the online real estate service announced that it had reach a deal with the Internet portal iWon.com.

iWon extended its virtual front porch to include Homestore's listings of homes for sale, rentals and links to remodeling resources.

Shares of Homestore jumped 18 to close at 77.

"By positioning our content in an innovative portal like iWon.com, we're reaching more customers," Homestore chairman Stuart Wolff said in a statement.

CBS (CBS Quote - Cramer on CBS - Stock Picks) owns iWon, which attracts visitors with cash prizes.

Homestore's stock also got a push from a Merrill Lynch report issued Tuesday that forecast robust growth for the company. The brokerage firm predicted Homestore would generate $1 billion in revenue and a 35% operating margin in five to seven years. That could translate into earnings of $2 a share.

This deal is the latest by Homestore. It has similar arrangements with America Online (AOL Quote - Cramer on AOL - Stock Picks), Excite@Home (ATHM Quote - Cramer on ATHM - Stock Picks), GoTo.com (GOTO Quote - Cramer on GOTO - Stock Picks), Infoseek (SEEK Quote - Cramer on SEEK - Stock Picks) and Lycos (LCOS Quote - Cramer on LCOS - Stock Picks).

Homestore's sites include SpringStreet.com, HomeBuilder.com, Realtor.com and homestore.com.