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 : OnSale Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StaggerLee who wrote (1348)	7/22/1998 4:01:00 AM
From: PAL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4903

How about AMZN? How much margin do you get for selling a book?

To: StaggerLee who wrote (1348)	7/22/1998 10:49:00 AM
From: j_b	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4903

By focusing only on gross margins, you ignore certain other very important factors. For example, revenue/employee - ONSL produces over $900,000 per employee, compared to $300,000 for YHOO or $357,000 for AMZN. That implies that ONSL is more scalable than the others, which means that as revenue levels grow, YHOO and AMZN will see their operating costs increase at a faster pace than those at ONSL. Also, if margin was the main driver for valuation, LCOS, SEEK,XCIT, etc. should have valuations similar to YHOO, since they all bring in about the same margins, yet YHOO is valued significantly higher (their price/sales is something like 2.5 times the others). A premium is being given to YHOO for being the leader in their field, and for being profitable. ONSL is also the leader in their field, and has shown that their model can be profitable, as it was before they started spending large amounts to even further increase their lead over newcomers in the field. Since ONSL has already generated a profit, it seems disingenuous to say they can never realistcally generate one. You are also ignoring changes in product mix that will change the margins - travel is generally a much higher margin item than electronics, and the timeshare/vacation rentals should be even higher.