NEWS: TPGI Initiates Coverage of Eyecity.com with "Buy" Rating
Eyecity.com, Inc. (OTC BB: ICTY) announced today that The Phoenix
Group International ("TPGI") of San Francisco and New York has issued
research, initiating coverage of ICTY, with a "Buy" rating.
The following excerpts from the report are reprinted with the
permission of TPGI:
"The $50 billion worldwide optical products retailing industry
represents an ever-expanding opportunity for growth, most recently and
notably transformed through the introduction of the overwhelming retail
potential existing as part of the World Wide Web. This increased
retailing opportunity is expected to push the annual U.S. marketplace
for optical products alone to an estimated $19.5 billion by the end of
2000, well beyond the impressive $15.8 billion spent in 1998 by
approximately 161 million American consumers with refractive needs."
"EyeCity.com is fully engaged in the marketing, distribution and retail
sale of an extensive line of optical products and accessories over the
Internet, including brand-name sunglasses, over-the-counter
prescription eyewear, over-the-counter contact lenses, computer
glasses, concert glasses, binoculars, telescopes, hunting glasses,
night vision goggles, rifle scopes and other sports and lifestyle
eyewear (such as glasses for golfing, fishing and various extreme
sports)."
"On January 6, 2000, the Company announced that its family of optical
products websites experienced a record 1999 holiday season,
cumulatively observing more than $540,000 in sales for the month of
December alone and more than $1 million in sales for the entire fourth
quarter (representing a 120% increase over fourth quarter sales for
1998)."
"EyeCity.com has successfully jumped on the potentially huge, emerging
online trend within the optical products retailing industry and, as
such, has effectively established itself as one of the very first
online optical products retailers available in the marketplace. The
Company realized long ago that while traditional brick-and-mortar
optical products retailers must expect to make substantial investments
in physical inventory, real estate and personnel for every store
location, EyeCity.com would require none of these assets, naturally
incurring significantly lower operating costs. The Company is also
fully capable of providing its consumers with greatly expanded lines of
eyewear products due to the fact that they can be offered as part of an
extensive, online, virtual catalog, which allows consumers the
unparalleled convenience of ordering products directly from the
manufacturer for shipment to their individual home and/or office
addresses. Taking all of these factors into consideration alongside
current demographic trends, ever-evolving technological and medical
advances and notably accessible profit margins existing within the
optical products retailing industry, EyeCity.com is currently finding
itself on the verge of a potentially substantial opportunity for market
share generation".
"We are initiating coverage of ICTY with a Buy rating and 6 & 12-month
price targets of $12 & $18, respectively"
TPGI's report on Eyecity.com will be distributed to subscribers to TPGI
Equity Research, which include institutional & individual investors,
stockbrokers and investment advisors. TPGI has also agreed to sell
copies of, and rights to distribute the report to the Company's
investor relations firm, pending their review of TPGI's report. TPGI's
report was commissioned by the Company and for which TPGI received
compensation.
About TPGI:
Headquartered in San Francisco, TPGI conducts business around the
United States and internationally within a myriad of financial
enterprises. At the core of TPGI's activities are its three divisions:
TPGI Corporate Finance, TPGI Equity Research and TPGI Entertainment
Finance. The TPGI Research Team conducts fundamental and technical
research and analysis on select companies and securities on all major
exchanges. TPGI Equity Research is available on a fee-basis, by
subscription, to individual and institutional investors,
broker/dealers, individual brokers and investment advisors. In addition
to equity coverage, TPGI publishes a variety of research products. More
information on TPGI is available on the firm's web site at
www.phoenixllc.com.
Note: This release contains excerpts from a report issued by TPGI, and
therefore should not be considered to be the entirety of that report or
representative of TPGI's entire opinion and/or analysis of any Company
or its stock. Of particular note, these excerpts do not address the
risks associated with an investment in shares of the Company's common
stock or the Company's capital structure. All investments involve risk
and TPGI encourages all prospective investors to review and study any
and all available information prior to making any investment. The study
on these pages is not a complete analysis of every material fact
regarding any company, industry or security. The opinions expressed
reflect the judgment of the author at this date and are subject to
change. Facts have been obtained from sources believed reliable, but
are not guaranteed. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed
herein constitutes a solicitation by TPGI for the purchase or sale of
any securities. From time to time, TPGI may sell copies of various
research publications to broker/dealers, investment advisors, investor
relations firms and/or other entities at a price greater than the
actual printing cost. TPGI may solicit corporate finance or other
business from companies mentioned. TPGI, its officers or employees may
at times have a long or short position in the securities mentioned
herein and may make purchases or sales of these securities while this
document is in circulation. However, TPGI policy prohibits officers and
employees from making any trades within 30 days of initiation or
cessation of research coverage or during the ten-day period following
any change in recommendation. As of the date of this release TPGI has
no long or short position in the shares of the Company's stock. Neither
TPGI nor TPGI Corporate Finance is a Registered Broker-Dealer or a
Registered Investment Advisor and nothing contained herein should be
construed as investment advice.
This news release and the aforementioned research report contain
certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of
1934 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are qualified
by important factors, including competitive pressures, unfavorable
changes in regulatory structures and general risks associated with
business, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in the forward looking statement. Other factors could also cause
actual results to vary materially from the future results covered in
such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made in
the context of information available as of the date stated. Neither
TPGI nor the Company undertakes any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
SOURCE: eyecity.com
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
Distributed via COMTEX.
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CONTACT: Eyecity.com, Inc., New York
Mark H. Levin, 516/822-5000
mlevin@eyecity.com
or
Investor Relations:
I.W. Miller Group, Inc., Irvine, CA
Larry Fortune, 949/833-9001
WEB PAGE: businesswire.com
GEOGRAPHY: NEW YORK
INDUSTRY CODE: INVESTMENT
OPINION |
