By Tony Hallett, 11 August 1998 17:46
NEWS Shares in online community GeoCities started trading on Nasdaq today, making the company the latest in a line of Internet ventures to go public. GeoCities ranked as the Internet's eighth fastest-growing site for the first six months of 1998, according to figures from Media Metrix. The online company's decision to float is expected to be warmly welcomed by investors targeting potentially lucrative Internet stocks. GeoCities set its initial public offering (IPO) price at $17 per share yesterday - a high price that reflects anticipated investor demand. James Eibisch, a senior analyst at Input, argued that the price is justified: "Every big IPO over the past 18 months has supposedly been the last of the big Internet IPOs, but it hasn't happened. This IPO will also be successful." According to analysts, GeoCities has good brand recognition and a large user base, making it well positioned to become a portal site - amalgamating content from across the Internet. Eibisch added: "To be successful long-term, there's a good chance GeoCities will have to enter into a partnership with a media company. It's not a straight proposition being a technology and a media company at the same time." Last month, Broadcast.com - which gathers and broadcasts video and audio from across the Web - went public, and saw its share price more than treble at one stage during its first day of trading.
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