Of course the market cap @13 1/2 was a lot smaller then than it is now. Therein lies a lot of the problem.
I always thought that ATHM should have focused on its strength, which is BB pipes, rather than the riskier strategy of trying to become the AOL of BB by becoming a turnkey portal. Even AOL could not pull that off with dial-up and DSL, they had to become a content provider with TWX. If ATHM had not pursued that Excite merger, and focused on BB service, maybe they would have achieved a higher sub growth rate, and then moved into content. That's how AOL did it, first they got the subs, then went in 100 different directions before figuring out what made the most sense. I know these issues have been discussed ad nauseam on this thread, but 20-20 hindsight is always perfect. All I can say is that at this rate ATHM will either (1) eventually be delisted, (2) be bought, or (3) make a huge turnaround. Two out of three of those possibilites aren't bad. |
