INTERNET SERVER PRICED AT TOP; NETZERO TO POST INITIAL OFFERING.Byline: Jason Z. Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. Staff Writer Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. NetZero was priced at the top of a revised price range Thursday in anticipation of what is expected to be a strong initial public offering this morning. Experts expect a sharp rise in the stock price after the initial offering despite the market's poor performance Thursday. Shares of NetZero were priced at $16 late Thursday, well above the $9 to $11 range the company expected when it announced its IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. earlier this year. ``What it means is there's a lot of demand for the company's stock,'' said Gail Bronson, senior analyst for Calabasas-based IPO Monitor. It also means more capital for the company. Selling 10 million shares at $16 will raise $160 million, while under its previous price range the company would have raised only $90 million to $110 million. Investors apparently are impressed with NetZero's free Internet service An ISP that provides access to the Internet without charge to the user. The service is supported by advertising which appears on a special version of the user's browser and cannot be eliminated. NetZero (www.netzero. business model, Bronson said. The company gives users free Internet service in exchange for their agreeing to tolerate a continuous stream of advertising banners on a portion of their screen. The company, a product of Pasadena-based incubator idealab, will be listed on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors NZRO. Tom Taulli, Internet stock Internet stock The equity security of a company engaged primarily in a business associated with the Internet. Also called dot-com. analyst and author of a weekly IPO column published by Internet.com, said he was only slightly concerned about the effect of the broader market's performance Thursday on NetZero's initial public offering. Although the Nasdaq lost 3.8 percent of its value, Taulli said he believes NetZero's stock could peak at $100 today, more than six times its offering price. The recent wave of Internet IPOs has not satiated sa·ti·ate tr.v. sa·ti·at·ed, sa·ti·at·ing, sa·ti·ates 1. To satisfy (an appetite or desire) fully. 2. To satisfy to excess. adj. Filled to satisfaction. the market's pent-up demand for strong initial offerings, Taulli said. EGain Communications Corp. had a strong first day of trading Thursday despite the fact the market was down. EGain jumped $11 to $23. ``The Internet is very strong. It usually doesn't go away very quickly,'' Taulli said. The price of NetZero likely will go sharply higher before sliding downward a bit, Taulli said. He predicted the stock will stabilize well above its initial price of $16 a share, though, he said. |
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