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CNNfn tech stock report
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October 7, 1998: 4:48 p.m. ET
Internet sector tumbles as Barnes & Noble deal shakes up Amazon.com
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Internet stocks took a dive Wednesday as worries over revenue growth and increased competition in the online bookselling market put fear in investors' hearts.
The biggest loser among Internet companies was Amazon.com Inc., (AMZN), which plunged 14-7/8 to close at 93-7/16. Late Tuesday, German media giant Bertelsmann AG bought a 50-percent stake in barnesandnoble.com, Amazon's biggest competitor.
The deal raises the stakes significantly in the online bookselling war and puts Amazon's consistently poor earnings into greater visibility.
Amazon, which also sells music from its site, could face additional competition from CDnow Inc. and N2K Inc., which said they were discussing a possible merger to create the largest online music retail site.
CDnow (CDNW) shares climbed 3/16 to 8-1/8. N2K (NTKI) shares gained 1 to 5-1/2.
Another bellwether Internet stock taking it on the chin was Web-portal leader Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), which tumbled 10-7/16 to close at 114-3/8 despite analysts expectations of strong third-quarter earnings. The company reported third-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share -- well above Wall Street expectations of 9 cents a share -- after Wednesday's market close.
SportsLine USA Inc. (SPLN), publisher of the cbs.sportsline.com Web site, plunged 8-11/16, more than 50 percent, to close at 7-11/16. The company said it will meet analysts expectations of a third-quarter loss but its revenues will fall short.
Fears of lower revenues across the Internet sector dragged down other shares as well.
America Online Inc. (AOL) tumbled 6 to 91-5/8; C-Net Inc. (CNWK) dropped 4-11/16 to 39; and Inktomi Corp. (INKT) fell 10-1/16 to 62.
Internet service provider MindSpring Enterprises Inc. (MSPG) fell 4-1/8 to 29-3/8 despite assurances that Tuesday's departure of its chief financial officer is not due to corporate financial troubles.
High-speed Internet access provider @Home Corp. (ATHM) fell 4-9/16 to 39-3/16 even though the company announced a deal to distribute its cable-based service with new Dell Computer Corp. computers.
Some big-name technology companies in other sectors also found their shares in retreat in heavy selling volumes.
Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) fell 4-3/4 to 50-9/16; Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) shed 2-5/16 to 43-7/8; and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) fell 3-1/2 to 94-1/8.
Finally, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) plunged 4-1/8 to 15-3/4 despite reporting strong third-quarter results after Tuesday's closing bell. 
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