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Technology Stocks : WCTI (WordCruncher Internet Technologies, Inc.) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Daniel Miller who wrote (69)	12/29/1998 2:13:00 PM
From: gammaray	Respond to of 141

Danny boy, I figured if anybody wuld appreciate this, you would. I have nothing to do with verity. I am posting this only because of strong similarities to your favorite stock and of course the bullish message for search engines ("only beginning to blossom")in general. Neil Verity Somehow, amid the great Internet frenzy of 1998, Longview, Wash.-based Verity (VRTY) managed to go unnoticed for most of the year. The stock ascended on several occasions, only to drop back down to earth as investors remembered the company's propensity for dishing out disappointing earnings. Perhaps that the company even had a history -- 10 years in the document management business -- was the problem. Who wants an Internet play that wasn't started in some techie's garage six months ago? But by midfall, investors started to catch on to Verity's story. The company, which is expected to report $62.5 million in revenue in its next May fiscal year, develops software for corporate Internet and Intranet searches, a market that is only beginning to blossom. After going nowhere all year, the stock began climbing after Verity announced earnings that beat expectations in September. That was the time to buy. The day before the announcement, the stock closed at a mere 8 15/16. Now it's at 27. "I think it's important that they're in a hot area, and they don't have 20 well-heeled competitors," says SoundView's Tuttle . It also didn't hurt that Tuttle initiated coverage on the thinly followed stock in mid-November with a Buy recommendation. The stock jumped 35% in one day on the news. Even Verity CFO Jim Ticehurst credited Tuttle with the stock's rise, remarking a week later, "I think we're still riding the tail wind from last week of additional coverage being picked up by SoundView." The three analysts who follow Verity expect it to report earnings of 39 cents per share in its 1999 fiscal year and 63 cents in the year following. That's up from a $1.47 per share loss in the company's 1998 fiscal year. Already, Verity is trading at 43 times year 2000 expectations. Which goes to prove that sometimes a few kind words from an analyst can go a long way -- especially when Internet-loving investors are foaming at the mouth. << SMARTMONEY STOCK UPDATE ARCHIVE