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To: hoffy who wrote (20791)	7/17/1998 9:39:00 PM
From: bob	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 31646

100% correct about the internet stocks. How much of the Y2K thunder are they stealing. Here is an example. I'm sure all of you read about this today. [ Business \| US Market \| By Industry \| IPO \| AP \| S&P \| International \| PRNews \| BizWire ] Friday July 17, 8:22 pm Eastern Time Broadcast.com defies gravity with biggest IPO ever (Updates with stock close; adds details, quotes) By Susan Moran PALO ALTO, Calif., July 17 (Reuters) - In the latest gravity-defying initial public offering of Internet startups, shares of Broadcast.com Inc. on Wednesday skyrocketed over four times the offered price on their first day of trading. That gave the Dallas-based company, whose technology broadcasts audio and video programming to computer screens over the Web, the sharpest percentage rise for an IPO ever, according to Securities Data Inc., which tracks stocks. Shares of Broadcast.com rocketed from its $18 offered price to a high of $74 on the Nasdaq stock exchange before closing at $62.75 -- still up a staggering $44.75, or 248 percent. That would edged out the gains for Secure Computing Corp., which gained 247 percent on its first day of trading in late 1995, according to Richard Peterson, an analyst at Securities Data. The frenzied reception by Wall Street might seem to defy logic given the fact that the company, formerly known as AudioNet, posted a net loss of $6.5 million in 1997 on $6.9 million in revenues. Then again, this is the Internet, where analysts and investors have come to expect multi-billion dollar valuations on companies with no hint of profits. At Friday's peak price, the fledgling company boasted a market valuation of more than $1.25 billion, lending ammunition to those who argue that stock prices for Internet companies have gotten out of hand. ''Broadcast.com should never have traded at $74. It's hard to call that fairly valued,'' said Vincent Slavin, an IPO analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Co., adding that someting in the $30 or $40 range would be more appropriate. ''I don't know if you can make sense out of it,'' said Ken Flemming, an analyst at Renaissance Capital Corp. ''But obviously the Internet is probably the hottest area so far this year in terms of IPOs and after-market interest.'' The stellar performance of Broadcast.com's IPO highlights the passion investors have for many Internet stocks, partly as an alternative to weaker performing IPOs in other industries, as well as a particular interest in media companies making investments in the Web, some industry watchers said. ''I'm trying not to look at the markets all day so I can keep my capital envy to minimum,'' said Joshua Harris, founder and president of Pseudo Programs Inc., a New York-based competitor of Broadcast.com. ''It makes me edgy, but I'm happy for them,'' he said, refering to his rival's stock offering. Harris said Pseudo hopes to go public early next year. ''I think their IPO is doing so well because Wall Street has figured out that television is hitting the Net,'' he added, noting the equity investments companies like NBC and Disney have made in their own Web sites and in partnerships with other content-oriented sites. As the Web grows, users are demanding more entertaining and informative content, making Broadcast.com's audio and video technology, which broadcasts music, sports and TV-like content over the Net, wildly popular among content providers. Broadcast.com's debut comes on the heels of several other stunning IPOs, including that of search-engine company Inktomi Corp., Broadcom Corp., which makes computer chips that help link TV screens to the Net through cable lines, and Software.net Corp., which sells software products over the Internet.