Internet Stock Report's HotWatch99 - OCTOBER ISSUE
By Chris Nerney
Senior Analyst
internet.com
mailto:cnerney@internet.com
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Despite the slump that hit tech stocks in the last days of the month,
September was a very good month for HotWatch stocks as a group.
Collectively they were up 14.1%, outperforming both the Nasdaq (up
0.25%) and internet.com's ISDEX (up 7.97%).
Go2Net (NASDAQ: GNET)
Recent Go2Net news, events:
* Announces new service for small businesses through its HyperMart
subsidiary.
Is Go2Net's spectacular run over? Probably. After all, you can't ask
much more of an Internet stock than a 632% gain since January, and a
mindblowing 1,544% gain since Oct. 1, 1998.
Even though GNET shares fell ever-so-slightly in September, it still had
the third-best month of any HotWatch stock in August, so I'm not quite
yet prepared to bid adieu to this market outperformer. Another soft
month, though, and I may be convinced that the party is over. But what
a party.
One thing to keep an eye on: Traffic growth. Go2Net (including all the
sites in its network) remains the No. 9 most-visited Web property, but
the number of unique visitors actually declined from July to August,
according to Media Metrix figures.
The decline was slight - just over 1% -- and probably is a seasonal
thing (No. 7 Time Warner Online, for example, dipped 10% in August).
Still, with No. 10 AltaVista -- piloted by CMGI and planning an IPO
early next year - and No. 11 LookSmart anxious to move up, Go2Net needs
to grow to maintain its position on the short list of top Web
properties.
That's one of the reasons the company announced that HyperMart, a Go2Net
site that offers free business hosting, soon will provide resources for
running and managing small businesses. The hope is that as more small
businesses take advantage of the Internet, they'll make HyperMart a
regular stop along the way.
Go2Net will be reporting Q4 and annual earnings in the third week of
October. If it beats analysts' expectations for revenue and traffic,
investors could keep GNET shares in the stratosphere.
keep in mind...this newsletter is no longer written by our gnet bull, Steve Harmon. |
