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Technology Stocks : Inference Corporation--Growing 100% and still inexpensive -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sethpop who wrote (1208)	5/3/1999 10:44:00 AM
From: Luce Wildebeest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1246

Looks like a good acquisition. The earnings are going to scare some people out of INFR. Is anyone on the thread buying more? Calvin Inference Acquires Web-Based E-Commerce Sales Company and Announces Preliminary First Quarter Results NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 1999--Inference Corporation (Nasdaq:INFR) today announced that it has acquired Verix Software, a privately held developer of Web direct sales applications for e-commerce companies. Inference also indicated that, excluding costs and expenses associated with the acquisition, it expects to report a net loss in the range of $1.3 million to $1.6 million on revenues of $6.1 million to $6.4 million for the first quarter ended April 30, 1999. Acquisition related expenses, which consist primarily of acquired in-process research and development, are expected to be in the range of $200,000 to $700,000, subject to an independent valuation of the acquired assets of Verix. All estimates are preliminary and have been prepared using partial information and management estimates. "Product revenues were well below expectations for the quarter, caused primarily by a number of potential customers deferring their purchasing decisions," said Charles W. Jepson, president and chief executive officer of Inference. "In addition, as we work to expand marketshare by entering into new, web-based markets with our k-Commerce products, we are seeing increased competition." The company indicated it expects first quarter product revenues in the range of $2.9 million to $3.1 million and service revenues in the range of $3.2 million to $3.3 million. For the comparable quarter ended April 30, 1998, the company reported revenues of $6.3 million, and a net loss of $2.7 million or $0.36 per share. Product revenues for the first quarter last year were $3.1 million and services revenues were $3.3 million. The company anticipates releasing complete financial results on May 19, 1999. Verix Brings Real Time Direct Sales & Marketing to the Internet Inference has acquired 100% of the shares of Verix Software of Los Angeles in a stock and cash transaction consisting primarily of stock. The transaction was completed on April 30, 1999 and will be accounted for using the purchase method. "One of the biggest challenges that companies face is converting e-commerce shoppers into buyers," said Jepson. "The Verix technology provides the foundation for our k-Commerce Sales application which is focused on giving our customers the ability to provide dynamic, highly personalized sales web sites to increase revenue. Combined with our k-Commerce Support products, we intend to offer solutions across the entire e-commerce customer lifecycle that are designed to improve overall customer satisfaction and retention. "The acquisition of Verix Software is an important piece of Inference's stated corporate strategy to build its business via both acquisitions and organic growth," continued Jepson. "We are excited about the opportunities its solutions open up in the area of Web-based sales and expect the Verix portion of our business to begin generating revenues later this year." The addition of Verix Software's Web customer profiling, personalization, product configuration and real-time sales promotions technology to Inference's k-Commerce solution is designed to enable real-time and targeted sales promotions to drive Web direct selling. Targeted for release later this year, k-Commerce Sales plans to enable companies the opportunity to sell, upsell and cross-sell based on each customer's preferences. "Inference's new k-Commerce Sales application has an exciting opportunity for growth," said Ken Hoang, CEO, Verix Software. "We are going after a very large market with this new solution, and the acquisition of our company by Inference provides us with the resources to accelerate our vision."