November 10, 1999
Dow Jones Newswires
EShare Tech Up 97%; Analysts Cite Rise In
Rivals' Shares
By Dinah Wisenberg Brin
PHILADELPHIA -- Shares of EShare Technologies Inc. (ESHR) flew up
as much as 98% Wednesday, movement analysts and the company linked
to favorable comparisons with competitors whose shares rose sharply
earlier this week.
Wednesday's increase for the Norcross, Ga., Internet customer-service
technology company followed a 71% climb Tuesday.
In addition, rumors circulated on Internet message boards that EShare may
be an acquisition target, but an analyst dismissed that idea.
Instead, market watchers cited recent gains for two competitors, eGain
Communications Corp. (EGAN) and Kana Communications Inc.
(KANA), which had big runups Monday.
"I think it's comparison with peers that moved the stock up," analyst
Donald Newman of Ladenburg Thalmann said.
"Their technology, according to trade publications and according to them,
is probably as good if not better - this is from third-party opinions - as
Kana and eGain," he said.
Analyst Tom Pagel of Banc of America Securities cited "a realization that
the market that all of these companies are serving is a significant one."
"I don't think there's a particular event that's triggering it," Pagel added.
"These are all recently public companies."
EShare Vice Chairman and President James Tito agreed that "people are
just recognizing it." He also noted that eShare, formerly Melita International
Corp., cut 95 employees last week and recently announced management
changes.
Tito said he couldn't comment on rumors, circulating on Yahoo! message
boards, that Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) may be looking at eShare as a
potential acquisition. Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward also said her
company doesn't comment on rumors.
Ladenburg analyst Newman said he'd be surprised by such a takeover. It
wouldn't make sense, given the layoffs and Melita's recent acquisition of
eShare, he said.
That doesn't mean, however, there won't be some news soon from eShare.
"Stay tuned, a lot of cool stuff is happening right here," Tito told Dow
Jones Newswires. "Neat new deals on the horizon with good-size Internet
customers that we'll be announcing in the next week or two."
EShare stock recently traded at 11 3/4, up 5 1/16, or 75%, on volume of
3.2 million shares, compared with average daily volume of 100,000.
Earlier it reached 13 1/4.
The stock closed at 6 11/16 Tuesday, up 2 25/32, or 71%.
Kana recently traded at 129 1/2, off 11 3/4, or 8%, while eGain was
down 1 3/4, or 4.5%, at 37 1/4, both on relatively light volume. Those
companies had strong runs earlier in the week, however.
On Monday, eGain closed at 42, up 13, or 45%, over Friday's close,
while Kana closed at 150 1/2, up 62 7/16, or 71%. Both companies are
recent IPOs.
-Dinah Wisenberg Brin, Dow Jones Newswires, 215-656-8285
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