Total overall number of page views for the fourth quarter more than doubled to 160 million from 71 million a year earlier and up 37 percent from the prior quarter.
I go to their site on occasion, when someone cites a biotech-related link. I've never noticed who advertises there. If I did, it would create a negative impression. Perhaps it's already happened...... subliminal NEGATIVE association for any advertisers at thestreet.com????
Page views? The more they knock biotech, the more page views they get from me. I certainly couldn't respect a company that chooses such a lame forum for advertising.
Pass it on.
Thursday February 8, 1:27 pm Eastern Time
TheStreet.com oper loss narrows; net loss widens
(UPDATE: Rewrites throughout with details from conference call, adds byline)
By Reshma Kapadia
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - TheStreet.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:TSCM - news), said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net loss
widened as the leading financial news Web site took charges to shut its U.K. operations, lay off 20 percent of its work force
and end its joint venture with the New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT - news).
The company co-founded by former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer declined to project earnings for 2001, saying it was too
difficult to tell if online advertising will rebound as U.S. companies have slashed marketing costs to focus on profits during the
economic slowdown.
TheStreet.com said it lost $24.6 million, or 90 cents a share in the fourth quarter, after including items such as a $17.6 million
charge for the U.K. shutdown, loss of 40 U.S. jobs, and closure of its shared newsroom with the New York Times. The New
York-based company lost $11.8 million, or 47 cents a share, in the 1999 fourth quarter.
Excluding the charges, theStreet.com said its loss narrowed to $5.6 million, or 20 cents a share, from $9.1 million, or 36 cents
a share, in the year-ago period.
Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected the online news provider to post an operating loss of 28 cents a share and
revenues of $5.4 million, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.
Analysts had cut their estimates for the company after TheStreet.com reported disappointing third-quarter results and said it
would shut its money-losing U.K. operations.
Fourth-quarter revenues grew 23 percent to $6.3 million from $5.1 million a year earlier. Ad revenues climbed 33 percent to
$3.9 million over the same period, and rose 38 percent from the prior quarter. Subscription revenues grew 33 percent over the
year to $2.1 million.
``Although many would be pleased with our fourth quarter, I and the management group won't be satisfied until we are making
money,'' Chief Executive Tom Clarke said.
``I understand fully that profitability is the only game. As you know it is an extremely challenging environment for companies that
derive revenues from online advertising. We just don't know what this market is going to look like in 2001.''
Several Internet media companies have projected flat to lower revenue growth in the current quarter, but Clarke declined to
make specific revenue estimates.
``The whole industry trend is going to be down. It would be foolish for me to say we are not going to see the same kind of
result, but we are somewhat of an anomaly because of the high demographics our site brings,'' he said.
``As (advertisers) fine-tune their ad programs, people (will) continue to look at us. It is a tough ad environment. However, I
think if you can meet the objectives of what (advertisers) are trying to do, there are some great opportunities there.''
TheStreet.com, which struggled to draw traffic to its Web site last year even after it eliminated subscription fees, is focusing on
new revenue sources. Its program aimed at institutional investors is expected to bring in revenues this year, Clarke said.
He said the company has also looked into fulfilling its users' needs to purchase stocks and funds based on the content
TheStreet.com offers. However, ``we will not compete with our allies -- the brokers -- on this,'' Clarke said.
``We are in negotiations right now, looking at partnership agreements that will let that happen off our site and we think that's a
very big opportunity for us.''
On average, the number of unique visitors to TheStreet.com's Web sites rose 65 percent over the year to 3.3 million a month
during the fourth quarter. The number grew 14 percent from the third quarter.
Total overall number of page views for the fourth quarter more than doubled to 160 million from 71 million a year earlier and up
37 percent from the prior quarter.
For full-year 2000, revenues rose 63 percent to $23.3 million from $14.3 million in 1999. TheStreet.com said its consolidated
loss for the year widened to $40.6 million, or $1.55 a share before preferred dividends, compared with a loss of $28.4 million,
or $1.35 a share, a year-ago.
The net loss for the year widened to $61.9 million, or $2.37 a share, compared with a loss of $33.6 million, or $1.60 a share.
Shares of TheStreet.com, which have fallen almost 95 percent from a high of 60 in mid-May 1999, edged up 1/8 to $3-5/8, off
its 52-week low of $1-5/8, on Nasdaq at mid-afternoon. |
