This news is under DELL symbol. Check out the names of partners at the end of the PR. And, please, read the facts, do not listen to the empty messages of some people, that have just wishes. BTW, some shorters SOMETIMES win too. But, for example, some people wanted you to concetrate your attention on 86000 REGISTERED users, but not on 1.3 millions visitors. Why? Because that number is better for SHORTERS. Some people wanted you to see low profit without stressing out, that 90% of such internet companies are at loss NOW. Why? Because it's better for THEM only. I want you to see better numbers, because I'm long in the stock. We will always present facts in such way. Each one will have to choose for himself. And stock will not move on the chanting "SELL,SELL,SELL", or "BUY,BUY,BUY". Just the facts.
Good luck for everybody with their investments.
Val.
DrKoop.com shares rise again in second day
June 9, 1999 06:20 PM
SEATTLE, June 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Internet health care directory DrKoop.com Inc. rose again in heavy volume on their second day of trading on Wednesday as investors sought a piece of the potentially lucrative market for online health information.
The stock of the company, whose chairman is former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, surged as high as $20.25 before ending at $17.44, up $1 from Tuesday's close at $16.44 and nearly double its initial public offering price of $9.
"There's upside left, given where these things have traded," said Ruby Holder, an analyst at ING Barings Furman Selz LLC. "They've positioned themselves in a very hot Internet space. The potential there is enormous."
On Wednesday, 11.65 million shares of the company traded, off the first day total of more than 26 million shares, but enough to make it the fourth most active stock on Nasdaq.
The Austin, Texas company is banking on the reputation of Koop, a feisty consumer advocate who strengthened health warnings on cigarette packaging and campaigned to raise AIDS awareness.
"The reason that DrKoop.com is successful is because people trust me," Koop, the company's chairman, told a press conference in Washington on Wednesday.
Holder said health care Web sites offer a potential fountain of advertising revenues and service fees, plus a good chance for partnerships or buyouts in the burgeoning, but fragmented industry.
"These companies offer significant potential from a business model standpoint and also the potential for consolidation in the industry, which we believe is going to happen," she said.
The company has lined up a host of key partners, including Infoseek Corp. SEEK and Walt Disney Co.'s DIS Buena Vista Internet Group.
It also has drawn in several powerful investors.
Following a recent trend among companies going public, DrKoop.com directly sold a $10 million stake to Dell Computer Corp. DELL and stock worth $10 million to investors FHC Health Systems Investment Co. LC and $5 million in stock to Quintiles Transnational Corp.
"The company seems to be an early leader in providing news services over the Internet for consumers," said Dell spokeswoman Libba Letton.
About 1.3 million people visit DrKoop.com each month, and about 86,000 are registered users who make return visits, Koop said. He added that the most popular features were rankings of 1,400 other Web sites, aimed at keeping consumers away from inaccurate information, and details on prescription drugs.
((--Chris Stetkiewicz, Seattle bureau, 206-386-5339)) REUTERS
|
