Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (102033)	4/24/2000 9:50:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 164687

>My sentiment indicator is starting to flash green. Me too. > Bellevue, Washington, April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Drugstore.com Inc., an Internet drugstore whose shares have fallen 88 percent since their first day of trading, said its first-quarter loss widened as it spent more on marketing. Sales surged as it gained more customers. The loss grew to $49.5 million, or $1.09 cents a share, from $10.6 million, or $10.89 a share, a year ago. Sales at the company, which went public in August, rose to $22.7 million from $652,000. Drugstore.com shares have fallen amid increased competition from other on line retailers such as PlanetRx.com Inc. and traditional drugstore chains like CVS Corp. that are adding Web sales. The company, which began selling on line in February, added 295,000 customers, a 42 percent increase from the fourth quarter. ``It was a much better quarter than we expected,'' said Anthony Vendetti, a Gruntal & Co. analyst with a ``outperform'' rating on the stock. ```Business-to-consumer stocks have been out of favor, but this will be one of the players left standing when the shakeout is over.'' The Bellevue, Washington-based company said it had a loss of 86 cents before the amortization of intangible assets and stock- based pay. On that basis, eight analysts polled by First Call/ Thomson Financial had expected a loss of $1.02 a share. The company, which sold shares on July 27 at $18 a share, reached a high of 70 when the stock began trading the following day. The stock, which closed today up 5/8 to 8 11/16 in New York, rose to 10 1/2 in trading on other markets after the announcement. Gross margin, which measures the profitability of sales, turned positive in the quarter at 5 percent. In February, Drugstore.com opened a distribution center in New Jersey to increase the company's distribution capacity, cut shipping costs and boost customer service. Apr/24/2000 18:03