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Marketwatch IPO opens eyes
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January 15, 1999: 4:30 p.m. ET
Shares of biz news site Marketwatch.com, CBS-DBC venture, soar in '99 IPO debut
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In the first initial public offering this year, coming in the blazing hot market for Internet issues, shares of online business-news service Marketwatch.com shot higher Friday.
After opening in the early afternoon, Marketwatch.com (MKTW) roared up to 97-1/2, up 474 percent, from the Thursday evening pricing at $17 per share. Its shares hit as high as 130, up 665 percent, in intra-day trading.
That makes it the second most successful debut percentage-wise ever on Wall Street, behind theglobe.com (TGLO), which rallied 605 percent in its first trading day last November..
The San Francisco-based business news provider, a joint venture of television network CBS (CBS) and market information provider Data Broadcasting (DBCC), sold 2.75 million shares to raise $46.75 million.
"It blows the door wide open for the 1999 market," said John Fitzgibbon, editor of IPO Reporter. "It is a continuation of the way we closed the year last year: Internet, Internet, Internet."
Shares of CBS added 13/16 to 34-15/16, while Data Broadcasting, which has roared up in recent weeks in anticipation of the offering, fell 9-7/16 to 21-3/4.
Lead underwriter was BT Alex. Brown. Demand for the new issue was so strong the expected pricing range was raised twice, from an original range of $10-$12 per share, then at $14-$16 a share.
"There's an expression I use in these instances: If you increase the price of an IPO, double my order - and if you cut it, cancel my order," said Fitzgibbon.
According to a company filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Marketwatch.com's site last October attracted nearly 2.2 million visitors, who generated more than 48 million page views.
The web site, one IPO expert said, is expected to benefit from a licensing agreement with CBS.
"It adds brand name -- and in this business, brand name is everything," said Gail Bronson, senior analyst at IPO Monitor, an online news service.
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