Intermix On the Radar

Second chances are rare for dot-com also-rans, but the rebound in Intermix (MIX Quote) could give tech investors something to talk about.

Intermix used to be eUniverse, a company that found its Nasdaq listing through a reverse merger with a nearly defunct motorcycle retailer, dabbled in an eclectic mix of Web sites, restated its finances and was banished to the pink sheets. But now, thanks to a new management that saw potential in an emerging technology called social networking, Intermix has found a home on the American Stock Exchange, where its stock has been rallying.

The stock has risen from $2.25 in October 2003, shortly after the venture firm Vantage Point took Intermix under its wing, to a high of $7.13 earlier this month. Funds that have been invested in Intermix for years -- even through the dark times, when the stock was trading for less than the value of its assets -- believe the stock has room to go higher.

"It's still very early for this company," says Michael Balkin, who co-manages the (WBSNX Quote)William Blair Small-Cap Growth fund. "They've had a lot of challenges and now they have a lot of opportunities. I think there will be a period of being discovered by Wall Street, where it will get on a lot more radar screens."

Rules of Attraction

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