DOT, Up and Down Like a Yo-Yo, Posts Minor Loss

Internet stocks hung on to the bungee cord that had technology stocks up early, down midday and back on the rise before the closing bell interrupted the comeback.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index, or DOT, closed down 5.03, or 0.4%, at 1140.65, bouncing back from a low of 1118.54 in the final hour of trading. Other than some stocks that registered postearnings gains, much of the sector posted small losses.

The postearnings disaster story of the day was

eToys

(ETYS)

. The online toy store closed down 4 3/8, or 20.6%, at 16 7/8 after reporting revenue that showed solid growth, but a 52-cent loss that only matched Street estimates.

TSC's

James Cramer

took a look at the beleaguered e-tailer in an earlier

piece.

Following the numbers,

J.P. Morgan

reiterated a market perform rating on eToys, saying that the stock will face a "triple squeeze" from

Amazon.com

(AMZN) - Get Report

,

Wal-Mart

(WMT) - Get Report

and

Toys R Us

(TOY)

. Analyst Tom Wyman wrote that though eToys was the leader in terms of revenue in the online toy category this holiday season, "we believe its lead over its competitors is narrowing. Furthermore, we also lack visibility in catalysts to change our rating."

Cramer also threw in his

two cents on

Internet Capital Group

(ICGE)

, a stock that faces release of a substantial number of shares from lockup.

Barron's

reported earlier this month that more than 46 million shares of the stock will become eligible for sale in February, with another 45 million from March through May and an additional 95 million in June. Internet Capital Group closed down 6 3/16, or 4.5%, at 130.

Ben Holmes

takes a

look at companies that have lockups expiring on a weekly basis.

priceline.com

(PCLN)

was not able to break away from weakness in the Net sector despite a solid quarterly report. It closed down 2 1/8, or 3.2%, at 64 1/8 after reporting a 6-cent-per-share loss vs. the 8-cent loss estimated by the Street. But a strong report was largely priced into the stock, as the company said earlier this

month that revenue was going to be higher than projections.

Robertston Stephens

reiterated a strong buy rating on priceline following the report, indicating that results were even better than those that were preannounced and that new marketing and business initiatives were attracting record levels of traffic to the site, particularly its

WebHouse Club

name-your-own-price grocery service.

But weakness elsewhere could not stop

InfoSpace

(INSP) - Get Report

, which closed up 27 1/2, or 19.6%, at 167 1/2 after blowing away earnings estimates with a 5-cent gain (postsplit) vs. the break-even estimate.

Merrill Lynch

upgraded its intermediate-term rating on InfoSpace to buy from accumulate, with a price target of 175. It may reach it tomorrow.

Also,

Exodus Communications

(EXDS)

closed up 9 15/16, or 8.3%, at 129 15/16. The Web-hosting company reported a fourth-quarter loss of 25 cents a share, 2 cents narrower than Street estimates.

Elsewhere,

Sycamore Networks

(SCMR)

closed up 13 3/16, or 4.4%, at 313 1/4 after announcing a 3-for-1 stock split.

homestore.com

(HOMS)

closed down 20 9/32, or 16.6%, at 100 7/8. The company priced a public offering of 8.3 million shares at $110 per share.