cautiously optomistic words from briefing.com:
Daily Stock Brief
Updated: 08-Nov-00
AEA Diary II
[BRIEFING.COM - Gregory A. Jones] Day two of the
AEA conference offered the opportunity to see eight more
companies. If that wasn't information overload, last night's
vote count surely was. Because of that (ongoing) exercise
in democracy, we were a bit late in getting this piece
done. Apologies for tardiness, and let's get underway.
As was the case yesterday, these will just be my personal
observations of the presentations I saw, and generally do
not reflect any depth of research. For the most part, I knew
little about the companies I saw ahead of the
presentations. These are initial reactions to the
companies' presentations.
<snip>
Hoover's (HOOV)
This was pretty much a self-serving visit. Hoover's
does not compete with Briefing.com, but their
business model is very similar, and I just wanted to
see how someone else in this space was doing.
The answer was not surprising given that we have
seen the same at Briefing.com all year. Business
overall in 2000 has been pretty good, though both
subscriptions and advertising revenue growth
slowed dramatically after Q1. But business licensing
has continued at a strong clip, and offers some good
future upside for HOOV.
I was the only one to show for the start of the
presentation, highlighting the humbling experience
that awaits many of the small cap companies in
Session 2 at the AEA, but before it was over, I was
joined by 4 others.
Bottom line: I am not an objective observer as I want
to believe that online content will work. That caveat
aside, at its current valuation and given the
likelihood that HOOV does have enough cash to
make it to profitability next year, this one offers a
decent risk/reward proposition.
<snip>
Parting Thoughts
Day three of the AEA is ongoing, but I'm not there
anymore, so you won't get a third diary entry. We'll
have to wait another year for more of the great AEA.
My only parting thought is that despite the market's
woes, the conference was well attended and, if
anything, participants seemed to be intrigued by the
number of companies whose valuations were more
reasonable. Last year, it seemed like a casino more
than a market. This year, analysis pays again. That's
a good thing.
Greg Jones - gjones@briefing.com
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