Here's some other news! We also have traders starting to short this one which is real good news, let's start a squeeze. Net2Phone, Red Hat lead IPO crop
Online broker Web Street files for $50 million IPO
By Steve Gelsi, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 2:52 PM ET Aug 25, 1999 Also: Movers & Shakers
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Net2Phone posted strong gains Wednesday on a deal with Sprint as the Internet telephony player stayed hot the day after the end of its quiet period.
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Net2Phone (NTOP: news, msgs) said it's teaming up with Sprint on a plan dubbed "Callternatives" aimed at providing phone service to Asia. See related story.
Shares of Net2Phone added 17 or 32 percent to 70 1/8. On Tuesday, it rose 6 points, or 13 percent, to 53 1/8 after a 33 percent jump on Monday.
The Hackensack, N.J. company has rung up the strongest after market performance among the nearly two dozen IPOs that priced in the last week of July with a gain of 254 percent through Tuesday, according to CommScan Analytics. The stock debuted July 29 at an offering price of $15 per share.
Over the past month, the average return for IPOs was 37.8 percent for the 61 IPOs that debuted.
The strongest performer in the past month was Red Hat (RHAT: news, msgs) with a return of 393 percent from its IPO on Aug. 11 at an offering price of 14.
Shares of the Linux specialist jumped 5 to 74 on Wednesday.
Web Street
Deerfield, Ill.-based Web Street (WEBS: news, msgs) filed for a $50 million IPO with lead underwriter Fahnestock & Co. on Wednesday.
The online broker posted a loss of $7.9 million on revenue of $11.8 million last year.
It's facing competition from online brokers such as E-Trade (EGRP: news, msgs), Ameritrade (AMTD: news, msgs) as well as traditional brokers ramping up their online efforts including Merrill Lynch (MER: news, msgs), Charles Schwab (SCH: news, msgs) and TD Waterhouse (TWE: news, msgs).
Julio Gomez of Gomez Advisors, which tracks online brokers, said Web Street needs to boost its marketing budget if it's going to stay competitive and that a public offering could help them.
"It's going to be a difficult time ahead for many firms in the online broker business in terms of managing their marketing plans," he said.
Web Street's product was "exceptional" when it debuted in Aug., 1997 with an interface that closely resembled an actual stock trader's work station.
Since then, the site hasn't evolved significantly and the cost of staying in the game "has continued to escalate," Gomez said.
One strength Gomez cited was Web Street's relationship with ConSors Discount Broker, a unit of SchmidtBank, which gives it an edge in Europe.
Mortgage.com
Mortgage.com (MDCM: news, msgs), which debuted its $57 million IPO on Aug. 11, jumped more than 90 percent on Wednesday. The Plantation, Fla.-based company is now trading farther above its $8 offering price as shares advanced 7 1/2 to 15 11/16.
The news from the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 25 basis points may have helped the company since it promises to eliminate some of the costs linked to traditional mortgages.
The company is in its quiet period until next month.
Quokka Sports
Quokka Sports (QKKA: news, msgs) continued to trade below its $12 offering price after the stock emerged from its quiet period on Monday.
The San Francisco-based Internet sports programmer share dipped 1/2 to 9 5/8 after a deal with NBC on Tuesday failed to move the stock upward. The company said it's teaming up with the network on Olympics coverage through the Web site, www.nbcolympics.com. See press release.
Earlier this week, Merrill Lynch Internet analyst Henry Blodget issued some cautionary comments on the company, saying it needs to raise more capital, build audience and add sponsors to become profitable. Merrill, the lead underwriter on the $60 million IPO, rated the stock a short-term accumulate and a long term buy.
ImageX.com
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Updated:
8/25/99 3:56:52 PM ET
ImageX.com (IMGX: news, msgs), an IPO led by Volpe Brown Whelan, is expected to debut its stock on Thursday, according to CommScan Analytics.
On Tuesday, the company halved the amount of money it expects to raise by shaving the size and price of its offering on Tuesday.
The Bellevue, Wash., company decreased its expected price to $7 from a range of $8 to $10 and pared its share float to 3 million shares from 4 million.
The Web-based intermediary in the U.S. commercial printing industry had originally eyeballed a $12 to $14 range.
ImageX.com was expecting to raise $40 million in capital; now it'll likely get closer to $21 million.
The company rang up $11.4 million in pro forma revenue and a loss of $8.8 million last year.
The company recently added Disney and USA Networks to its list of corporate printing clients.
Acorn Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Bellevue, owns 23.6 percent of the company as its largest shareholder.
Bamboo.com
Bamboo.com is also expected to debut on Thursday.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company (BAMB: news, msgs) provides 360-degree virtual tours of real-estate via the Internet. It priced its shares at $7 each, down from a projected range of $10 to $12.
Bamboo.com trimmed the size of its offering to 4 million from 5 million shares as it readied to go to market. Its lead underwriter is Prudential Securities. The company lost $1.8 million last year on revenue of $100,000.
Glenn |
