[ Thanks to VOS for this
link. ]
“What was most remarkable about the smashing debut of Red Hat
Inc. on Wednesday wasn’t that the company more than doubled its
stock price on opening day. That’s already happened to more than 50
of the approximately 225 Internet companies that made initial
public offerings this year.”
“But shares of Red Hat, a leading developer of the touted Linux
operating system for Web servers, shot up 270 percent despite the
sudden chill in IPO fever. Last week, seven companies’ shares
dipped below their day-one offering prices, and investors
accustomed to instant dot.com gratification had to wonder whether
the Internet bubble had finally burst.”
“Analysts say Red Hat’s success, in light of last week’s
results, may be the clearest signal yet of a critical shift in the
way Wall Street values Internet stocks. As it becomes increasingly
obvious that the Internet is here to stay, investors are turning to
companies that provide the infrastructure that drives the Web, and
passing up the more speculative Internet start-ups that base their
business on Web site content and niche markets in e-commerce.”