IPOs Return: EarthWeb, an online publisher for the IT professional market, went public at $14 a share. The stock soared, hitting a high of $85.06 before ending the week at $67. In response to the stock's positive reception, other Internet IPOs that were temporarily on hold are reviving their plans. TheGlobe.com, an online community, went public Friday at $9 per share after postponing in late October. The stock closed at $63.50 on its first day of trading.
Up How Much? Internet stocks in general took a wild ride last week, with rosy forecasts of online Christmas shopping fueling the fire. Online auction site eBay (EBAY) saw heavy trading activity after one analyst increased his price target to $150 a share; meanwhile, another analyst downgraded his rating. The stock gained 48 percent to close the week at $123.94. Music retailer K-Tel inked a distribution deal with Microsoft (MSFT) and watched its stock quadruple to as high as $32.63 before closing the week at $19.75. Amazon.com (AMZN), Yahoo (YHOO) and Inktomi (INKT) also saw significant ups and downs, ending the week up 2.6 percent, 9 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
AOL Gets Personal: America Online (dossier) bought PersonaLogic, which creates interactive technology that enables consumers to customize searches on the Web for products and services, based on their individual preferences, and to save the search profiles. AOL will extend the PersonaLogic technology to its AOL.com, CompuServe and Digital City sites.
Going, Going, Gone: Times Mirror sold Auction Universe - an online auction that lists person- to-person classified ads for 30 newspapers - to Classified Ventures, a joint venture of eight newspaper chains, including Times Mirror. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Auction Universe, led by CEO Larry Schwartz, runs 20,000 auctions each day, but has been trailing eBay, Onsale and First Auction.
Community Building: GeoCities announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Starseed, an Ashland (ASH), Ore.-based firm that provides "ring" technology for the Web. In addition to giving members a new way to create communities, the acquisition boosts GeoCities' consumer base (WebRing has 900,000 member sites and 66,000 rings) and gives it a new distribution network.
It's In The E-mail: Intellipost acquired MyPoints, an incentive program for Internet ads. MyPoints' backer, Experian, the credit-report and direct-marketing giant, gained a 19.9 percent investment in Intellipost as part of the deal, its first involvement in e-mail marketing after acquiring and then shutting down MetroMail last year.
Me, Too:Netscape bought Internet services company AtWeb for roughly $95 million in stock. The company will integrate AtWeb's software into Netcenter's small-business section to create a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs. The deal comes one week after Microsoft made a similar purchase of LinkExchange, a company that provides tools and services similar to AtWeb's.
Trial Recap: After an Intel (INTC) witness testified that Microsoft threatened the chip giant, the lead government attorney said he expects to turn to more technical matters starting on Monday. The Justice Department plans to call Glenn Weadock, president of Independent Software. Weadock, a consultant and author of Bulletproofing Windows 95, was the government's witness in January during a hearing on a federal judge's order for Microsoft to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 95.
Banking On Excite (ATHM): In a deal that could be worth as much as $125 million, Excite and Bank One will create an online financial center. The deal gives Bank One exclusive rights to market its products and services on Excite's home page and provides Excite users with a comprehensive banking destination. The two companies
