FROM BLOOMBERG:
RealNetworks Falls on Fears of Slower Web Ad Growth (Update1)
By Dina Bass
Seattle, July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of RealNetworks Inc., the top maker of Internet media player software, fell 13 percent on fears advertising revenue will be hurt by slowing growth in Internet ad spending, analysts said.
The shares fell 5 13/16 to 38 15/16. The company declined to comment on the drop. The stock has fallen 35 percent this year.
RealNetworks sells ads that appear on its player software and in actual video and audio files. Heath Terry, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston Inc., said investors are concerned that spending on these ads will slow, partially due to confusion over a report from another analyst.
That report, by Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst Michael Stanek, said the company wouldn't be greatly harmed by a slowdown in online ad spending. Stanek, who also wrote in his report that he expects these concerns to drive down the stock nonetheless, wasn't available to comment further. He rates the stock a ``buy.''
``There is no risk to RealNetworks' advertising revenue this quarter,'' said Terry, who has a ``buy'' rating on the stock. ``The types of ads people are worried about slowing -- banner ads and things like that -- are not the types of ads that RealNetworks sells.''
Because ad sales represent only 15 percent of Seattle-based RealNetworks' total revenue, any slowdown would have minimal impact, Stanek said in his report. |
