News January 4, 09:00 Eastern Time
HOOVER'S ONLINE 1999 Q4 AND YEAR-END ANALYSIS OF INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS SHOWS TECH STOCKS RULE HOOVER'S IPO SCORECARD NOW AVAILABLE on Hoover's IPO Central
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan 4, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Hoover's
Online's year-end IPO Scorecard gives high marks to Internet stocks,
1999's biggest market movers. Showing impressive gains with occasional
periods of volatility, technology IPOs remained hot and continued to
surge throughout the year because of interest in the Internet
infrastructure/backend sector. In Q4 1999, tech stocks set new records
with the top seven IPO first-day gains in U.S. history. This final 1999
IPO Scorecard marks the fourth in a regular series released on Hoover's
IPO Central, a feature of Hoover's Online: The Business Network
(http://www.hoovers.com). Hoover's Online is published by Hoover's,
Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV).
Each IPO Scorecard includes a comprehensive overview by Hoover's Online
editors, including the best- and worst-performing IPOs, greatest
first-day gains and drops and the best overall returns for the quarter.
The Scorecard also lists the quarter's richest CEOs based on post-IPO
paper value and measures the amount of "Money Left On The Table" -- a
comparison of underwriter pricings to actual first-day opening prices.
All results from this latest Hoover's IPO Scorecard can be found at
hoovers.com.
1999 Year-End Analysis Internet stock mania ushered in the beginning of
the IPO year, followed by a brief summer lull, and ending with a bang
at year's end. The prevailing factor in the 1999 IPO market was
continuing investor interest in all things Internet. Of the 548
companies that went public in 1999, 278 were high-
tech/Internet-related enterprises. 1999 also ushered in the regular
appearance of triple-digit opening-day gains for IPOs. Hallmarks of
1999, as reported throughout the year by Hoover's Online, include:
Q1 1999: 81 companies went public in the first quarter of 1999, with an
average value of $132 million. The sixth-place first-day-gainer of all
time, MarketWatch.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTW), opened the quarter on
January 15 with a 474% gain. The highest return of the first quarter
went to VerticalNet, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERT) at 549%.
Q2 1999: The second quarter saw fewer billion-dollar IPOs than in
quarter one (more companies went public -- 132 -- but with only an
average value of $110.2 million). The highest return of the second
quarter went to Redback Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: RBAK) at 446%.
Q3 1999: Internet infrastructure or "plumbing" companies brought a
resurgence, led by the No. 3 all-time first-day-gainer Foundry
Networks, closing 525% above its offering price. The highest return of
the third quarter went to Internet Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICGE)
at 632%.
Q4 1999: The fourth quarter of 1999 was a record-breaker for high-tech
companies. Q4 1999 laid claim to the top seven first-day gains of all
time in U.S. IPO history -- in fact, not surprisingly, all of the top
10 IPO first-day gainers are Internet or technology companies. Sample
findings from Hoover's IPO Scorecard for the fourth quarter of 1999:
-- With a pop of 698%, VA Linux (Nasdaq: LNUX) goes public in Q4 and
reigns supreme among the top 10 IPO first-day gains in U.S. history:
698% VA Linux Systems, Inc. December 1999
606% theglobe.com, inc. (Nasdaq: TGLO) November 1998
525% Foundry Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: FDRY) September 1999
483% FreeMarkets, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMKT) December 1999
482% Cobalt Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: COBT) November 1999
474% MarketWatch.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTW) January 1999
458% Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM) October 1999
427% CacheFlow Inc. (Nasdaq: CFLO) November 1999
386% Sycamore Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCMR) October 1999
364% Ask Jeeves, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASKJ) July 1999
-- Of the 163 Q4 IPO companies, 103 are trading above their first-day
closing price.
-- The top 10 best-returning IPOs for Q4:
1,160% Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM)
761% Satyam Infoway Limited (Nasdaq: SIFY)
711% Sycamore Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCMR)
648% Cavion Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: CAVN)
615% Interwoven, Inc. (Nasdaq: IWOV)
614% NaviSite, Inc. (Nasdaq: NAVI)
611% FreeMarkets, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMKT)
589% VA Linux Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: LNUX)
554% InterTrust Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: ITRU)
499% Be Free, Inc. (Nasdaq: BFRE)
"Technology and Internet IPOs dominated 1999, but the fourth quarter
saw an explosion in two specific categories -- hardware, or Internet
"plumbing" companies, and business-to-business stocks, which remain
dominant in the aftermarket with high fliers such as Sycamore Networks
(Nasdaq: SCMR) and Free Markets (Nasdaq: FMKT)," said Kenan Pollack,
Money editor for Hoover's Online. "Another Q4 point of interest is that
seven of the top 10 first-day gainers enjoyed record pops even though
they were priced quite high; in one case at $48 per share. That's a
noticeable difference from the previous champ, theglobe.com (Nasdaq:
TGLO), which priced at just $9 per share in November 1998."
About Hoover's, Inc. Hoover's (Nasdaq: HOOV) is a leading provider of
authoritative business information on the Web. At the core of Hoover's
is a database of company information covering the world's largest, most
influential and fastest-growing public and private enterprises and the
industries in which they operate. Hoover's accurate, timely information
is designed to provide reliable answers to the questions of the
businesspeople, academics and investors who visit the Hoover's Online
Web site (http://www.hoovers.com) and the more than 30 other Internet
and online services through which Hoover's Company Information is
available, including America Online (NYSE: AOL), Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ),
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Reuters (Nasdaq: RTRSY) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq:
YHOO). Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Media General (Amex: MEG.A), NBC -- a
unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Knowledge Universe, through
its Knowledge Net Holdings and Nextera Enterprises (Nasdaq: NXRA)
units, are investors in Hoover's.
For more information, contact Lisa Glass of Hoover's, Inc.,
512-374-4662, or email, lglass@hoovers.com; or Eliza Schleifstein,
212-880-5243, or email, eliza.schleifstein@ogilvypr.com, or Jennifer
Connorton, 212-880-5351, or email, jenny.connorton@ogilvypr.com, both
of Ogilvy Public Relations, for Hoover's, Inc.
SOURCE Hoover's, Inc.
(C) 2000 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
prnewswire.com
CONTACT: Lisa Glass of Hoover's Online, 512-374-4662, or email,
lglass@hoovers.com; or Eliza Schleifstein, 212-880-5243, or email,
eliza.schleifstein@ogilvypr.com, or Jennifer Connorton, 212-880-5351, or
email, jenny.connorton@ogilvypr.com, both of Ogilvy Public Relations, for
Hoover's, Inc.
WEB PAGE: hoovers.com
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