Herm, thank you very much for your comments on CMGI.
One bit of information was a bit old,
though. CMGI reported their 4'th quarter
results on Sept. 29. See:
fnews.yahoo.com
An excerpt:
"Excluding non-recurring acquired-in-process
research and development charges, the consolidated
operating loss widened to $49.8 million in the
quarter from $20.7 million posted in the same
period last year and from $29.6 million generated
in the third quarter. Operating losses during
the year expanded to $120.6 million from $59.9
million posted in fiscal 1998....
... Despite the weakness in the operating
results, CMGI delivered net income of
$401.1 million, or $3.75 per share, in
the quarter thanks to a $661.2 million
gain realized on sale of GeoCities ...
to Yahoo! Inc. ... This compares to earnings
of $0.28 per share registered in last
year's fourth quarter and a loss of $0.24
per share posted in the third quarter.
For the full year, the company delivered
$4.16 per share compared to $0.42 per
share in 1998.
Given the company's perpetual acquisitive
mode, the relevance of quarterly operating
results is significantly diminished and
will remain such in the foreseeable future."
--------
Basically, CMGI is NOT in the Internet
business. What they ARE in the business
of is buying low and selling high -
Internet businesses, that is.
Now, that said, they do have properties
that are intended to eventually produce
income on an onging basis, including
a newly-formed consulting group. But
the basic CMGI business model is to
acquire small Internet-related companies
at an early stage, grow them, and
ultimately spin them off. With the
GeoCities transaction, the "sell high"
part of the equation has started to come
into play. |
