MarketWatch Shares Rocket; Some Net Names Sink
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Stock in MarketWatch.com Inc., which runs an online financial news site aligned with CBS, soared in its debut Friday as Internet-hungry investors jumped at the first new stock offering of 1999.
Shares in the operator of the CBS.MarketWatch site rocketed to close at $97.50 on Nasdaq, up $80.50 from their offering price of $17. The stock hit a high of $130.
The run-up bestowed the money-losing firm with a $1.1-billion market value. Its 474% gain was the second-biggest ever for a new stock, after Theglobe.com’s 606% climb Nov. 13.
But for many other big Internet names, Friday saw more losses. Yahoo slid $26.94 to $317, Inktomi fell $10 to $148.50 and Broadcast.com sank $14.06 to $139.81. Even some of the Net winners for the day posted small gains compared with the broad market. America Online inched up $2, or 1.4%, to $146.50.
MarketWatch’s rise also didn’t help Midvale, Utah-based Data Broadcasting, which quadrupled in recent weeks because it owns 38% of MarketWatch.com. Data Broadcasting plunged $9.44 to $21.75, in part because its price had suggested that investors valued each of its 4.5 million MarketWatch.com shares at $214 a piece.
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