Stock Watch: Bottomline Bottoms Out

EPAY became EPAIN on Wednesday for investors in Bottomline Technologies, which makes online payment software. Shares of Bottomline fell 34 percent, dropping 8-1/2 to 16-1/2 after the company reported that it expects to lose about 10 cents a share in the first quarter because concerns about Y2K at other companies has softened the demand for its products. Analysts had expected Bottomline to record a profit of eight cents a share.

It has truly been a precipitous decline for Bottomline stock, which traded as high as 98 earlier this year. The company went public at $13 in February. It is hard to imagine this stock falling much further, but when companies are out of favor, one never knows when the bleeding will stop.