Despite the headwinds in the online advertising market, Internet Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: INET) is holding up relatively well. In Q1, the company posted revenues of $23.5 million, which is down from $24.9 million in the same period a year ago. Keep in mind that last year's results included a one-time gain of $1.1 million.

A key advantage for Internet Brands is its diversification. That is, the company operates about 200 sites in such verticals as autos, careers, home, money and business, shopping and travel. There is also a licensing segment (for auto data and software tools).

Unfortunately, the auto division was a drag. For example, there was a $2.7 million fall in related e-commerce revenues.

Continue reading Internet Brands: Click away

Internet Brands: Click away originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The ailing economy is having a harsh impact on the advertising market. There is even a drop-off in online channels. Yet, for Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET), which operates many ad-based websites, the impact has hasn't been as bad.

In Q4, revenues increased 8% to $27 million and net income was $3.1 million, or 7 cents per share. Adjusted EBITDA increased 29% to $9.8 million as Internet Brands got a boost from higher margin advertising revenues.

For the most part, the key strategy for the company is to build a diversified online platform. For example, Internet Brands has sites that cover autos, travel, shopping, rentals and so on. As a result, the company has been able to soften the reductions in certain verticals.

Continue reading Internet Brands jumps on cheap M&A deals

Internet Brands jumps on cheap M&A deals originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some investors shy away from low priced stocks., but Rick Aristotle Munarriz thinks some stocks under $10 have nice growth potential. Here's his list of five such stocks to consider.

• Alvarion Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALVR) is currently at $8.98; its development trajectory looks impressive if we take into account the fact that it has gained 53% over the past two months. In addition, its quarterly earnings results and its cash-rich balance sheet point to further growth.
• Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), currently at $2.72, is showing a lot of potential as its subscriber base continues to increase, while reducing its quarterly losses. Munarriz also cites the company's advantages tied to its pending merger with competitor XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR).
• Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) is currently at $7.48, down from $23 two years ago. Despite the fact that the company's quarterly earnings numbers weren't so good, BLRD was able to gain market share and is nicely positioned for a recovery in the next couple of years.
• Internet Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: INET), currently at $6.48, is seen as a good investment in the current dot-com world. Last week's $1.8 billion decision by CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) to acquire CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) could be a sign that we should consider Internet Brands and its high traffic volume. Internet Brands has several pages that have high advertising potential, and should see this pay off in the future, or lead to a possible buyout by one of the major players.
• Natuzzi (NYSE: NTZ) is currently trading at $3.77. The company is facing some trouble related to its declining revenue and profit, but it is has the advantage of a lot of cash on its balance sheet.

Continue reading Motley Fool's 5 stocks under $10 to consider for your portfolio

Motley Fool's 5 stocks under $10 to consider for your portfolio originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 May 2008 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Internet Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: INET) is essentially a holding company for a myriad of diverse websites. Some of the categories include travel, autos, and finance. Although, there are some commonalities: consumer focus, community, high engagement and compelling content.

The company went public last year and, for the most part, the stock performance has been lackluster.

However, with the report of its Q1 results, investors pushed the stock up 7% to $6.75 in yesterday's trading. Revenues increased 30% to $24.9 million and net income was $3 million or $0.07 per share. Moreover, adjusted EBITDA came to $7.9 million, up 35% over the past year.

While ecommerce revenues were light - primarily because of the slowing economy - there was still much strength from advertisers. Besides, Internet Brands has been quite active with M&A. Since the start of April, the company has purchased MySummerCamps.com and CreditorWeb.com.

As a result, the web properties of Internet Brands continue to rack up lots of traffic. For March, the total monthly unique visitors spiked 68% to 34 million and page views surged 89% to 458 million.

On the conference call, Internet Brands indicated that the M&A pipeline looks strong. In fact, with the soft environment, sellers may be more motivated to do deals. And, with $76.9 million in the bank, Internet Brands still has some firepower for transactions.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Internet Brands doubles down on M&A originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 May 2008 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Jefferies initiated Dreamworks Animation (NYSE: DWA) with a Hold rating and $25 target. The firm believes the company needs stronger-than-expected box office performance to drive material share appreciation, which they view as a risky bet given recent non-Shrek film performance, slower DVD sales and a tough economy.
  
• Merriman assumed coverage of Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS) with a Buy rating, as they believe the current share price does not adequately reflect the company's strong clinical data, potential for clinical milestones, or potential for revenue generation. They believe shares could trade to a fair value range of $20-24 in the next 12 months.
  
• Merriman initiated shares of Vertex Pharmaceutials (NASDAQ: VRTX) with a Neutral rating, and recommends investors hold pending a greater understanding of clinical timelines and results for other HCV drug candidates.

• Merrill Lynch initiated Time Warner Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) with a Neutral rating.
  
• UBS initiated Protalix (AMEX: PLX) with a Buy rating and $6 target.
  
• Pacific Growth assumed United Online (NASDAQ: UNTD) and Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET) with Buy ratings.

Analyst initiations: DWA, VRUS and VRTX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

No doubt, internet advertising is red hot. Unfortunately, in the case of last week's IPO of Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET), things were mostly cold. The price range on the offering was $10-$12, but the company was only able to price its deal at $8.

Internet Brands develops and acquires consumer websites, such as in the categories of automotive, travel and home improvement. It has about 45 principal websites, which include properties like CarsDirect.com, FlyerTalk.com, and DoItYourself.com. The network attracted about 26.7 million unique visitors in September.

So, what's the problem? First of all, there is not much synergy among its different categories. After all, can you really cross-sell among automotive and home improvement sites?

Interestingly enough, Internet Brands also recently purchased Jelsoft Enterprises Limited, which develops the vBulletin board platform. Why? I'm really not sure.

What's more, I think it can be tough to manage a large number of diverse sites. Basically, this is something that is better for larger organizations, such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Finally, revenues for the first nine months of 2007 actually fell from $65.2 million to $64.9 million. There was also a net loss of $2.4 million.

The lead underwriters on the deal included Thomas Weisel Partners and Jefferies.

You can find the prospectus at the SEC website. Also, if you want to find other recent information on IPOs, then visit DealProfiles.com.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Internet Brands' bland IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For internet company IPOs, the results were mixed this week. The online career site, Dice Holdings (NYSE: DHX), saw its share price increase about 4.2% (with the IPO priced at the top of its range). But there was also the meager performance of Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW), whose shares fell 3.3% on its debut. Despite this, we are still seeing filings from Net companies.

The latest filing: Internet Brands. In fact, back in 2000, the company filed for an IPO -- but it was too late (as the dot-coms turned into dot-bombs). But much has happened since then -- and the company looks a lot different. Through aggressive M&A, Internet Brands now has more than 40 principal websites -- focused on consumer categories. Examples include: CarsDirect.com, Wikitravel.org, FlyerTalk.com, ApartmentRatings.com, and DoItYourself.com.

As of June, the network attracted about 24.5 million unique visitors. This is up 161% from the same period a year ago. The business model is primarily driven by advertising. Last year, Internet Brands posted about $84.8 million in revenues. However, there is fierce competition. Just some of rivals include Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

The lead underwriter on the IPO is Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS).

Internet Brands' prospectus is located on the SEC website. Also check out other recent IPO filings.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Internet Brands: Clicking for an IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.