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The Wall Street Transcript publishes:

Internet Security & Identity Authentication Issue
Four analysts and top management from nine sector firms examine the Security/Internet Security & Identity Authentication sector in this 51 - page Issue from The Wall Street Transcript.
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Analyst names NetRatings' a compelling investment opportunity' Full article published: 09/06/2000     CHRISTOPHER R. HANSEN is a Senior Equity Research Analyst at Banc of America Securities LLC


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TWST: Chris, back to you. You mentioned earlier that there were some very compelling valuations. Is this a good time for investors to buy some selected stocks in the group?

Mr. Hansen: I think what investors should look to buy are names that are developing what amounts to a sustainable competitive advantage. I would agree with Jordan that, in e-marketing, you should look for companies that are effectively leveraging either their technology or intellectual capital to deliver effective results, and, for the most part, that will not include banner advertisements in the short term. There are a couple of names we think are very compelling valuations; on the sellside, we think L90 continues to do an exceptional job. It is a small cap stock, with an enterprise value slightly over 50 million right now. It has the strongest fundamentals in the group, and while that is in large part due to the management’s expertise and understanding of not only the Internet but also of traditional advertising, it’s primarily the result of their focus on providing premium high-end, beyond the banner solutions.

...

TWST: Chris, I don’t believe that you include these portals in the way you look at the industry.

Mr. Hansen: We would include them on the media side; certainly media and advertising are forever linked. That’s true both in the offline world and in the online world. But that’s not in my coverage area, so it’s probably not fair for me to comment on those names. I would say that, in our space, another company we think is very well positioned is NetRatings (Nasdaq:NTRT). With the stock price currently in the 18-19 range and the company holding 13 per share in cash, having great strategic partners in ACNielsen and Nielsen Media Research, and being well positioned to deliver proprietary market research/audience measurement products on a worldwide basis, we think NetRatings is a compelling investment opportunity. As the Internet continues to fragment across multiple devices and interactive television, it’s going to become a very critical challenge for marketers to measure their campaigns across all these different forms of media. While NetRatings certainly isn’t the only solution, it does develop its convergence products on a global basis.

TWST: Chris, is there a final word that you’d like to say, perhaps a word of warning to investors looking at this space?

Mr. Hansen: I wouldn’t necessarily say a word of warning, but I would say a word of advice is that investors should look at these companies and understand that there’s still a lot of hype in the sector. Investors need to do the work. Investors need to get down, talk to companies, talk to customers, and figure out which companies are really providing compelling service and product offerings that deliver effective results. While there are clearly a lot of companies in this space that do this, I would argue, as would probably all my counterparts, that there are a lot of companies that are pure hype. Accordingly, this is not a time to just overweight the whole e-marketing sector. It’s certainly one in which you have to be very discerning in your analysis of the individual companies. So that would be my one word of advice to investors.

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This interview is a small excerpt from a comprehensive and in-depth Roundtable discussion of E-marketing Issue featuring other analysts and published in The Wall Street Transcript on 09/05/00. For more information call (212) 952 7400. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.

Copyright 2000, Wall Street Transcript Corp.

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