Citi: Worst May Be Over for Internet Stocks

More fuel for the “things may not be getting worse, and may even be getting a little bit better” meme that I’ve been detecting (or perhaps promulgating ) recently: Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney notes that the Internet stocks he covers are up an average of 28 percent so far this year while the tech-heavy NASDAQ is only up seven percent and the broader S&P is down two percent. If this keeps up, we might have an M&A market again. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
inflating-balloon

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Blue Nile: Will They Miss Q4?

Crazy recession. It’s gotten so that people have cut back on buying diamonds for the last few months–enough to put the near future of online diamond retailer Blue Nile in jeopardy. Jewelry retailers in general had a “horrid” October and November and expect an even worse December–some couples are even postponing their engagements because of job insecurity and economic uncertainty.

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Amazon: Citi Downgrades on Valuation, Macro Concerns

Despite the fact that its stock has exploded as much as 36 percent, Citigroup’s Mark Mahaney downgraded his rating of the company, noting widespread evidence of an overall consumer spending decrease. Mahaney loves the Kindle, and believes it’s at least partially responsible for the surge, but cautions that it won’t immediately affect Amazon’s financial results.

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What's Up With Blue Nile?

Blue Nile (NILE) shares are down sharply without any obvious provocation. No news, no big analyst calls, no SEC filings. The one research item of note comes from Lehman’s Douglas Anmuth, in a survey of the outlook for Internet stocks generally.