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Strategies & Market Trends : Trader J's Inner Circle -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nicole Bourgault who wrote (14130)	5/6/1999 12:31:00 AM
From: Nicole Bourgault	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 56535

ABTL By Dean Tomasula Each week, The Internet Analyst will look at analyst's picks for public Internet companies that may not be brand names, but are intriguing and deserve a closer look. The image of the used car salesman as a fast-talking, disingenuous huckster is fast becoming a quaint perception thanks to the Internet and companies such as AUTOBYTEL.COM (ABTL) and AUTOWEB (AWEB), which use the Net to bring auto buyers and sellers together. James Preissler, an Internet analyst at PaineWebber, thinks these companies have "the potential to change the auto buying landscape." In fact, they already have, he added. Mr. Preissler follows AUTOBYTEL.COM and has assigned it a BUY, PaineWebber's highest rating, with a price target of $65. For 1999, he revised his earnings estimates and now expects the company to post a loss of $1.79 per share, down from his previous estimate of a loss of $1.89 per share. For 3Q99, AUTOBYTEL.COM is expected to post a loss of $0.41 per share. That is forecast to improve to a loss of $0.38 per share in 4Q99. On May 4, AUTOBYTEL.COM's shares closed at $27.50. The company has a market cap of $471.03 million. "One of these companies will emerge as the [market] leader," said Mr. Preissler. "There is a big opportunity here." Mr. Preissler also said there is potential opportunity in the security sector, particularly beyond 2000. Once companies wind down from the trauma of dealing with the Y2K problem, he noted, they will realize there still are network security concerns to be dealt with — most notably as it relates to their e-commerce efforts. "The security space has taken a beating lately," he said. "But by the first and second quarters [of calendar 2000], companies will be buying security products."