The stock market's three-day winning
streak appeared to be headed for an end
Thursday, as earnings warnings from Web
giant Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) and
others pulled the Nasdaq Composite Index
down 37.51 to 2,186.41 by midday.
Overall, the market was mixed, as old-economy stocks pulled other averages
higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 39.82 at 10,769.42, and the
Standard & Poor's 500 stock index was ahead 1.62 at 1,263.51.
Yahoo!, down US$4.14 at $16.80, said after the close
of trading Wednesday that
results for the
current quarter will be hurt by a slowdown in spending for online
advertising. The company will also look for a new chief executive officer,
as Tim Koogle gives up that role while remaining chairman.
Yahoo! said that it expects first-quarter revenue of $170 million to $180
million, with breakeven earnings. Analysts had expected $232 million in
revenue and income of 5 cents per share.
"All businesses in the United States are facing challenging economic
conditions that have weakened further in recent weeks," Koogle said, "and as
consumer confidence and spending has deteriorated, a broad range of
customers have delayed their spending across all media formats until their
economic outlook improves."
E-Commerce Drop
The E-Commerce Times
Index was down 2.19 percent at midday. Webvan (Nasdaq: WBVN), Egghead
(Nasdaq: EGGS) and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) were lower, while Travelocity
(Nasdaq: TVLY) and Drugstore.com (Nasdaq: DSCM) were higher.
Homestore.com (Nasdaq: HOMS) was up 6 cents at $28.50 following reports
that analysts at Wit SoundView upgraded the stock to strong buy from buy.
Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs gave the stock a boost when it added
Homestore to its recommended list.
Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) was down 38 cents to $11.88. Amazon has remained silent on rumors of a potential partnership with retail giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). However, a top Amazon executive said Wednesday that the e-tailer is interested in linking with brick-and-mortar stores.
CNet, Tibco Warn
CNET Networks (Nasdaq: CNET) fell $1.38 to $9.19 after it also warned that
results would fall below expectations. CNET, which owns Web sites providing
online content and Internet services, also blamed a slowdown in ad spending.
Other technology companies warning of weak results were Tibco Software
(Nasdaq: TIBX), Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) and Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB).
Tibco Falls on Warnings, Downgrades March 08, 2001
Tibco went public in July 1999 at $15 per share and reached a high of $147
before falling to the $10 range.
Related Stories
Yahoo! CEO Steps Down March 08, 2001
Tim Koogle joined Yahoo! in 1995 as president and CEO and was named chairman in January 1999.
Idealab! Jumps Silicon Valley Ship March 08, 2001
In October, Idealab! announced that it was postponing its IPO due to a
volatile marketplace and lowered investor demand for Internet stocks.
The Last Days of eToys March 07, 2001
Long before the dot-com shakeout had achieved infamy, eToys stock was
falling. On March 10, 2000, the day the Nasdaq was hitting its
all-time high, the soon-to-be-defunct e-tailer closed down at $13.06.
The Amazon Earnings Speculation Story January 21, 2002
For Amazon to break out of the box created by the competing objectives of boosting sales
and controlling costs, a pro-forma profit in the fourth quarter will be critical, a
Goldman Sachs analyst wrote.
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