This is from an article in the Tuesday, October 6, San Diego Union Tribune entitled 'Popularity of Internet stocks tested': "The upcoming earnings season could serve as a wake-up call for investors who have favored the volatile Internet stock sector, analysts said yesterday. At a time when economists are throwing around phrases like 'global recession', analysts say investors could lose their stomach for online companies that have sexy business plans but have shown no signs of turning a profit. For the past year, many Internet companies have confounded logic by remaining popular with investors despite showing large splashes of red on their earnings statements. But that might be about to change. In a market that is as jittery as it is now, institutional investors are looking for specific data points to help them be bullish or bearish, said Scott Rimer, an analyst with Cowen & Co in Boston. Most analysts now have a very short list of Internet companies they consider strong investments regardless of trends in the overall economy. These include America Online Inc, the biggest online service; Yahoo! Inc, the most popular Internet directory, or portal, and Excite, Inc., the No 2 internet directory which some thing could report its first profit this quarter. Not that they are focusing only on the handful of companies reporting a profit. High on almost every list of Internet stocks to buy is Amazon.com Inc. Although Amazon remains deeply in the red - it is projected to lose 57 cents per share in its third quarter - it has built a large and loyal consumer base and a brand that is practically a household name.
Written by Andrea Orr, Reuters. |
