Hot Net Names Take Off, Lifting the DOT
Did it really feel like a short week to anybody?
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index closed up 17.22, or 1.5%, at 1162.30. Considering it began the week at 1108.59, the nearly 54-point move does not seem like a big deal.
But there was much volatility in the sector, and while traditional Net stocks that make up the DOT were marginally higher, other hot
B2B plays and members of
TheStreet.com New Tech 30 took off.
VerticalNet
(VERT)
was off to the moon, finishing up 56 7/16, or 29.2%, at 252 1/16 on news of a $100 million investment from
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will provide Web distribution for VerticalNet, which operates more than 50 portals aimed at specific industries. Following the news,
Lehman Brothers
, which has done underwriting for VerticalNet, upped its price target on the stock to 350 from 170.
Other stocks to feed off investor enthusiasm for B2B included
Akamai
TheStreet Recommends
(AKAM) - Get Akamai Technologies Inc. Report
, which closed up 33 3/8, or 14.2%, at 269;
Sycamore Networks
(SCMR)
, which ended up 34 3/8, or 14.1%, at 280; and
Juniper Networks
(JNPR) - Get Juniper Networks Inc. Report
, which finished up 33, or 28.2%, at 149 15/16.
Many of the day's big movers revolved around earnings news, most all of it positive.
Inktomi
(INKT)
closed up 11 7/8, or 11.9%, at 112 9/16 after besting earnings estimates and receiving positive comments from analysts. And
Kana Communications
(KANA)
added 8 1/4 points to the 38 it was up yesterday, closing up 4.1% at 208 1/4.
Excite@Home
(ATHM) - Get Autohome Inc. American Depositary Shares each representing four class A. Report
matched estimates when it announced a break-even quarter but still closed down 2 3/8, or 5.6%, at 40 1/4.
There also was some news that broke late today, including a report on
CNBC
that
Amazon.com
(AMZN) - Get Amazon.com Inc. Report
was weighing the prospects of a $1 billion stock or convertible offering. Amazon dropped around 2:30 p.m. EST when the report was made and closed down 2 3/4, or 4.3%, at 62 1/16.
Healtheon/WebMD
(HLTH)
had a wild ride, trading as high as 64 5/16 following a positive analysts' report from
Gruntal & Co.
, but then slipped late in the day after
CNBC
insinuated that gains were based on takeover rumors that were untrue. It finished up 9 1/8, or 18.1%, at 59 9/16. Gruntal began coverage of Healtheon with medium- and long-term outperform ratings, saying the company was undervalued relative to its peers.
