The latest web-med IPO results:
CareInsite debut filled with vigor
Untested health network jumps in Wall Street debut
By Steve Gelsi, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:41 PM ET Jun 16, 1999
Net Stocks Internet Daily
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of CareInsite nearly doubled at the
height of its Wall Street debut Wednesday before giving up some of those
gains by the end of the session.
CareInsite (CARI: news, msgs) opened at 27 1/8, well above its offering
price of $18 per share and climbed as high as 35 1/8 as investors
applauded its plans to compete with Healtheon (HLTH: news, msgs) as
an online medical care resource.
It closed at 30 15/16, up 14 percent from its first trade price on volume of
4.3 million shares.
IPO watchers had expected a strong performance from the Elmwood
Park, N.J.-based firm after it upped its filing price to the $16 to $18
range.
"I'm told it had a lot of demand," said Renaissance
Capital portfolio manager Linda Killian of the firm's
IPO Fund. "There's nothing up and running yet, but
they will be a competitor to Healtheon."
The IPO, underwritten by Merrill Lynch, got a lift
from the positive CPI number that powered Net
stocks higher early Wednesday. See Net stocks.
CareInsite hopes to be a malady for Web darling Healtheon as a provider
of online health network services for patients and care givers.
Despite the strong start for CareInsite, David Menlow of the IPO
Financial Network said his firm remains cautious on the sector.
"One hot internet IPO does not hot market make," Menlow said.
"CareInsite is part of a stronger Internet subsector."
The company floated 5.7 million shares to raise
about $102 million to fund an Internet-based
healthcare e-commerce network for doctors,
patients, insurance firms and suppliers.
CareInsite will be the latest challenger to
Healtheon, which lit up Wall Street with news of its
$5.3 billion merger with WebMD. Last week, a
bevy of big health care players and Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS: news, msgs)
ponied up $50 million to fund PlanetRx.com. See
related story. |
