IPO VIEW: FTD Going Public in Busy Week
8109
February 8 is generally the cut-off date  for would-be Romeos to order their Valentine a dozen fresh red  roses, unless they want to make do with wilted carnations  instead, according to Red Herring's Web site.
238390
The company may be hinting at going public.
41832
Brands, buys, and bulk products will color in the week that lies ahead.
224719
Stocks to watch on Friday: DOUBLECLICK INC. :
117419
The new IPO is addressing a huge market opportunity, but at the current valuation, it's probably better to wait before investing.
84518
Stock investors may want to fasten  their seatbelts for the week ahead, when a flurry of  earnings  and economic data will once again be in focus.
592179
You don't have to be Google to challenge the way Wall Street manages initial public offerings. A little southwest Virginia biotechnology company has just gone public using the same innovative "open IPO" process as Google.
642953
One new stock has left quite a footprint.
429801
DaimlerChrysler's announcement that its troubled U.S. division could be put up for sale made the past week a busy one for private-equity firms.
550655
(InfoWorld) - Though business demand for IT products remains moderate, IPOs point to a healthy sector that is instilling confidence among investors. But IT is not back to the days of the bubble. Gone are the days when companies issue IPOs on promises alone. "You need real products and services, tangible results," said Eric Gebaide, managing director of Innovation Advisors, an investment banking firm. Companies generally need about $50 million in revenue before going public, he said. The IPO market is better now than it has been for years, and IT has nabbed a good share of investor funds, according to an IPO survey issued this week by Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association. In May, there were 11 IPOs in the U.S., more than for any month since October 2004. For the first five months of the year, the number of IPOs, and their dollar amount, hit their highest level since 2000, right before the dot-com bubble burst. Of the 33 IPOs so far this year, and the $5.1 billion they raised, IT's share lagged behind medical, health, and life sciences. But the biggest IPO was for a wireless communications company, MetroPCS Communications, with an offering that raised an initial $1.15 billion. Also, average performance for IPO companies so far this year is strongest in IT, where companies have realized a 13.9 percent increase from offer price to close, according to IPO survey. Medical, health, and life sciences IPO companies realized a 2.2 percent increase, and non-high tech sectors registered a 6.6 percent increase. Valuations are also up in general, to $156.7 million per IPO for the year so far, an all-time record. "Revenue growth and profitability are driving valuations up," said Gebaide. For IT, investors have seen eight to 10 quarters of solid revenue, he noted. Companies are more confident about financial forecasts, which also boosts confidence in tech, he said. An example this week was Texas Instruments's midquarter forecast Tuesday. It said second-quarter earnings would be $0.40 to $0.44 a share, compared with its prior estimate of $0.39 cents to $0.45 cents a share. Though the upper end of the forecast was pulled down, the midpoint of the forecast still aligns to the $0.42 per share predicted by analysts polled by Thomson Financial. The TI shares slipped on the news, but the major brokerages, which forecast good profit margins and strong product cycles for the company, reiterated their positive ratings on the company. All of this is happening in a market where corporate IT spending remains moderate. A recentÂ ChangeWave Research poll, for example, reported that the percentage of companies planning to increase their spending on technology has fallen to its lowest point in the last four years. But demand among consumers and interest in certain technologies is strong. For example, IDC this week raised its 2007 PC industry forecast. Vendors will ship 256.7 million units in 2007, a 12.2 percent increase from the previous year, it said. IDC had previously forecast a growth rate of 11.1 percent. Consumers were attracted by low prices on notebooks, Microsoft's Vista, and the new generation of dual-core chips, IDC said. For their part, venture capitalists are generally interested in Web 2.0, e-commerce, mobile communications and security technology, Innovation Advisors' Gebaide said.ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
720320
(InfoWorld) - The first week of September, the unofficial start of the new season, has been hectic for IT investors. Analysts are scrambling to parse through news from networking giants Cisco Systems Inc., Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc., and a board fracas at Hewlett-Packard Co. caused the company to come under the scrutiny of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the California State Attorney General. The big question for Wall Street analysts and institutional investors attending the Cisco Systems Inc. analyst day in New York Wednesday was whether the vendor could sustain its revenue and profit momentum. Executives lead by Chief Executive Officer John Chambers said that by incorporating data, voice, video and mobile capabilities -- its so-called "quadruple play" -- across all its product lines, Cisco can take advantage of converging networks in the service provider, enterprise, commercial and consumer markets. The company reiterated its forecast of 10 percent to 15 percent growth for the next three to five years. But more importantly, in wide-ranging give-and-take with the Wall Street community, company executives appeared very confident about specific details that backed up the forecast. "They were very bullish," noted Mark Sue, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. Sue said that two good signs were the company's confidence that it could keep its tax rate down to current levels (hovering around 25 percent) and Chief Financial Officer Dennis Powell's statement that the company would pay out a dividend at some point. The company did not get an uptick after the meeting, even though some analysts said they thought shares have a lot of potential to move upward. Part of the problem may be that Cisco was caught in the general market depression this week, as a result of reports of slowing housing sales. Cisco (CSCO) closed at US$21.54 Thursday, down $0.15. Meanwhile Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. shareholders approved the merger of the two networking vendors Thursday. The merger is seen as part of a trend toward consolidation in the networking and telecom markets. There is intense competition in the growth areas of the mature enterprise market -- such as VOIP -- while Chinese manufacturers are putting pressure on the Western networking giants on the low end. IT investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to Alcatel-Lucent. On Thursday, Lucent (LU) shares closed at $2.25, down by $0.02, while Alcatel shares (ALA) closed at $11.77, down by $0.24. On his part, Cisco's Chambers sees his greatest competition coming from Asia, not Paris or New Jersey. A board disagreement at HP, meanwhile, is a sign of the times. An internal investigation by HP to see which members of its board of directors leaked information to the press resulted in several board members leaving earlier this year. One departed board member, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Thomas Perkins, has accused HP of using possibly illegal means to conduct its investigation, sparking newly revealed government inquiries. However it ends, the squabble is seen to signify the end of an era when board members were all good friends of the chief executive. The leaks stemmed back to the time when the board started having critical discussions of ex-CEO Carly Fiorina. Though current CEO Mark Hurd appears to be well on the way to a healthy reorganization of the company, the board infighting could be a distraction. HP (HPQ) shares closed at $35.42 Thursday, down by $0.42.
520389
Takeover news was front and center during the shortened trading week.
353870
NEW YORK -- The IPO market may not be as large as it once was, but there is still expected to be plenty of room for this week's debut of private equity powerhouse Blackstone Group, likely one of the biggest initial public offerings in US history.
499591
National Thermal Power Corporationâs (NTPCâs) initial public offering (IPO) opened to a thumping response today, and was subscribed almost four times.
8776
Time Warner Inc.'s  cable division said on Tuesday it has become a public company and expects its shares to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and start trading as early as March 1.
371741
You don&#39;t have to be Google to challenge the way Wall Street manages initial public offerings. A little southwest Virginia biotechnology company has just gone public using the same innovative &quot;open IPO&quot; process as Google.
495386
A trio of initial public offerings  from technology companies opened well last week, but analysts  hesitate to describe the upswing as a sweeping trend.