Cha2, I wanted to suggest we include USWB in our DITR Index, and put it forth as a discussion candidate for this Thread. I'm still reading the new Manual, but I think there is value here. I bought in at 20 last week:
Stock of the Day
Sep 08, 1999
***USWeb/CKS: A One-Stop Dot-Com Shop***
Shareholders in USWeb/CKS (Nasdaq:USWB - news) have endured a bumpy ride this year, but the stock is up nearly 30% in the past few days as part of a growing fondness for web enablers. These web enablers help other businesses develop an Internet presence or otherwise harness the power of the web. This move by web enabler stocks and other behind-the-scenes Net companies is a noteworthy investor shift from the marquee consumer names like AOL, Amazon.com and Yahoo! which dominated the Internet investing scene until recently.
You might say USWeb is part of the "picks and shovels" crowd -- companies that provide enabling technology and services to the gold rush of web prospectors. And a crowd it is, with young but strong competition from iXL Enterprises (Nasdaq:IIXL - news), Scient (Nasdaq:SCNT - news) and Viant (Nasdaq:VIAN - news) among the many companies offering web site development, strategy, marketing and other Internet-related professional services.
USWeb/CKS is trying to position itself as the one-stop shop for business web services. The company was formed by the 1998 merger of USWeb, which was strong in programming and technical development, and CKS whose forte was design, advertising and marketing strategy. The result is a powerful combination of technical and creative expertise. USWeb/CKS is profitable, placing it among the select few in the world of Internet stocks.
Web consulting services is already a booming industry, but it is really expected to kick into high gear over the next few years as more and more companies realize they must adapt or perish in the digital era. The web is increasingly used not just for content, marketing or e-commerce, but as a tool to augment nearly every aspect of business processes. Accounting, supply chain management, customer and employee communications are just a few examples of ways that any company whose core business is not web-related can, and likely will, use the Internet to improve its business efficiency. So USWeb's potential customers are not just companies like a Barnes & Noble looking to evolve an existing retail business into an e-business, the market for web consulting services addresses everything from Fortune 500 manufacturers to Joe's Plumbing Supply....dot-com.
In addition to buying CKS, USWeb acquired literally dozens of smaller web development firms over the past few years in an effort to become the dominant player in this field. On Tuesday USWeb/CKS completed its acquisition of Mitchell Madison Group (MMG), a strategic consulting firm with a blue chip list of financial institutions for clients.
The smooth integration of all these acquisitions is crucial for USWeb/CKS to win the confidence of investors. If it can do that, USWeb/CKS appears to have all the pieces in place to be the one-stop shop for Internet-related professional services. Its roles in the Internet revolution isn't quite as glamorous as the eBays and AOLs of this world, but investors are discovering that "picks and shovels" companies sometimes offer a way to participate in the Internet revolution with a little less risk and just as much potential for growth.
USWeb/CKS is expected to earn $0.46 per share this year, up from $0.18 in 1998, and $0.73 in 2000 according to the analyst consensus. The annual growth rate is pegged at 50% over the next five years.
Teflon |
