February 9, 1999
Dow Jones Newswires
Aware Down 10%; Analyst Cites Small Lycos
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Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK -- Aware Inc. (AWRE) shares fell 5% Tuesday after dipping
10% intraday, as other Internet and telecommunications equipment stocks
tumbled across major market indexes.
Stephens Inc. analyst Charles Pluckhahn said the small premium offered by
Barry Diller's USA Networks Inc. (USAI) for Lycos Inc. (LCOS) operations
Tuesday morning "had to be a trigger" to intensify the selloff in Internet stocks.
The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 94.13, or 3.9%, to close at 2310.7.
Pluckhahn argued, though, that investors unfairly lumped Aware, of Bedford,
Mass., in with companies like Lycos, which provide Internet content. Unlike
Internet content companies, Aware makes digital Internet access equipment
that investors can value based on comparisons with established companies
such as Tellabs Inc. (TLAB), Pluckhahn said.
Pluckhahn said Aware's new digital local loop should reach "explosive"
growth levels in two years.
Some analysts said short-term concerns drove Aware's fall Tuesday. "It
seems that money is switching out of technology and getting into more stable
companies," said Hornblower & Weeks analyst John Rooney.
Aware Chief Financial Officer Richard Moberg said it was fair to classify the
company as an Internet stock because its technology makes Internet use more
robust. Moberg added that there is nothing about the business to justify the
share price drop Tuesday.
"We're caught up in what's happening with a bunch of other stocks," Moberg
said.
Aware closed down 5.2%, or 1 3/4, at 31 7/8, on volume of 1.6 million,
compared with average daily volume of 731,200. The stock has traded as
high as 44 1/2 and as low as 4 1/4 in the past 52 weeks.
-By Alec Appelbaum; 201-938-5172 |
