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: Mark Fowler who wrote (116096)	1/23/2001 8:11:31 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

>Last Update: 4:31 PM ET Jan 23, 2001 NewsWatch Latest headlines Get Alerted NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- After a choppy start, Net shares tracked higher Tuesday on earnings-driven momentum. OpenWave Systems' profit surprise indicated pockets of strength in corporate spending for wireless Web infrastructure. Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM: news, msgs) and Exodus (EXDS: news, msgs) rose ahead of their quarterly results to be released after the close Wednesday. See video brief on Akamai. Meanwhile, FreeMarkets became the latest company to signal quarterly softness, and its shares suffered. The Goldman Sachs Internet Index, which stumbled at the open, bounced into the plus column and finished with a gain of 7 percent. Merrill Lynch Internet Holdrs climbed back from session lows, and traded up 5 percent by the close. OpenWave Systems (OPWV: news, msgs) jumped 24 percent to $66.50 as the provider of wireless Web infrastructure posted a quarterly profit one quarter ahead of estimates. Investors and Wall Street alike applauded the results, and this year's profit and revenue estimates were raised accordingly. FreeMarkets (FMKT: news, msgs) gave up 19 percent to trade at $21.69 after reporting its auction volume activity in the fourth quarter was not as robust as analysts had hoped, causing Wall Street to take a cautious outlook in the current quarter and remainder of the year. FreeMarkets' auction technology enables corporations to auction their procurement business and in the process lower their costs. Overall, familiar Net names moved into the plus column by midday and stayed there. America Online Time Warner (AOL: news, msgs) added 31 cents to $54.15. Yahoo (YHOO: news, msgs) continued its recent rebound, rising 12 percent to $38.95. Amazon.com (AMZN: news, msgs) added 2.4 percent to $19. EBay (EBAY: news, msgs) advanced 6 percent to $52.38. Wireless infrastructure is OK OpenWave reported another "blow-out" quarter, said Rob Sanderson, an analyst at Banc of America Securities, in a note to clients. OpenWave reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $109.7 million, up 35.8 percent from the previous quarter, and scored an operating profit of 9 cents. Sanderson raised his calendar-year 2001 projections to earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $645 million, up from 15 cents and $580 million, respectively. Wireless products drove the top line, according to Goldman Sachs analyst Vik Mehta. Goldman estimates that the wireless portion of OpenWave's business grew 55 percent while the company's messaging unit grew by 6 percent sequentially. The messaging platform was down partly to weak demand from Internet service providers and pricing pressure, Mehta noted. Today on CBS MarketWatch Nasdaq closes up 3%; financials drive Dow Compaq tops profit target EMC revenue surges Texas Instruments growth concerns sink shares Daschle introduces smaller tax plan More top stories... CBS MarketWatch Columns Updated: 1/23/2001 5:05:48 PM ET Indeed, the messaging business has been hard hit. Last week, Critical Path (CPTH: news, msgs) saw its share price cut in half due to a revenue shortfall that management blamed on one contract that couldn't be recognized in the fourth quarter. Shares of Critical Path rose 3.4 percent to $9.38 in recent trading. Meanwhile, investors searching for other wireless Web infrastructure plays bid Aether Systems (AETH: news, msgs) up 6.6 percent to $52.36. Even the business-to-business sector as measured by Merrill Lynch B2B Holdrs bounced back into the black, despite a sharp decline in shares of FreeMarkets. According to Goldman Sachs, part of the weak auction volume from FreeMarkets is due to the soft automotive and manufacturing industries. The sluggishness is not expected to abate and accordingly Merrill Lynch downgraded shares to reflect the slowdown in revenue and profits. Earnings on deck Web hosting and managed services provide Exodus Commuications (EXDS: news, msgs)and content distribution firm Akamai (AKAM: news, msgs)are expected to report their quarterly results after the close Wednesday. Many analysts expect Akamai to exceed bottom-line results and meet top-line figures. Shares of Akamai ran up 13 percent to $32.13. In the fourth quarter, Akamai is expected to lose 68 cents per share, wider than the loss of 41 cents recorded in the year-ago period, and a negative 60 cents in the previous quarter. Robertson Stephens expects Akamai to generate $35.3 million in sales, up from $2.7 million in the year-ago period and $27.2 million in the prior quarter. For the current quarter or first quarter '01, Robertson Stephens expects Akamai to generate $43.8 million and lose 67 cents. Expectations for the full year of '01 call for a loss of $2.46 on revenue of $241.6 million. Exodus is expected to report $275 million in revenue, up 171 percent from the year-ago period and up 20 percent sequentially from $229.6 million. On the bottom line, Exodus is expected to lose 16 cents, wider than the loss of 13 cents seen in the year-ago period. For this year, Robertson Stephens expects Exodus to lose 42 cents on revenue of $1.87 billion. Shares of Exodus rose 15 percent to $26.