Which stock is better now? CMGI or Safeguard Scientifics?

CMGI Inc. (NASDAQ: CMGI) has sure seen shares come back down of late. Over the last 6 months after the incubator went through a bit of a transformation that started paying off for the stock at the end of 2006 and throughout much of 2007. The stock has recently gave back much of the 66% or more gain in its stock, but there is still quite a large following in the stock, and investors and traders still look for similar situations out there. The two most similar companies in the past were Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: SFE) and Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE). Internet Capital Group is still considered an internet incubator and investment vehicle, but Safeguard Scientifics has shed its 'incubator' activities and gone back to being a pure holding company.

Last week, I got the chance to interview Peter Boni, CEO & President of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. Most CEO's are a bit reluctant to shoot for the stars on-record, but Mr. Boni gave me a goal that seems like quite a target: to re-become a $1 Billion company. That would imply a roughly 200% gain from today's $310 million market cap. Sure, that has a lot of stipulations; but the executive compensation depends heavily on the stock. Mr. Boni joined roughly 22 months ago and shares are up roughly 50% since that time. The comapny also feels it has an underlying "value play" associated with the stock because of its stock holdings in Clarient, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRT) and cash equating to 80% of its market cap. The rest of the market cap could be considered its other 15 investments in private companies, physical assets, and a loss carry to offset gains that is larger than the current value of the company. It is always hard to call a $300+ million market-cap stock a value play because of the size and limited following, but, all in all, the long-term goals of the company and the current value of the holdings and 'hidden value' in other assets make this one quite impressive.

If we were in a bear market or if the IPO, venture capital, or private equity markets were dead, I might have a bit more caution. But in today's environment this one seems like an interesting play for aggressive growth and small cap investors that want some perceived value behind the investment vehicle they are in. Obviously, there is a large tie to the success in Clarient Inc. Shares have also been a bit volatile, but that is par for the course in small cap stocks like these.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.