Broadvision downgraded

Broadvision (Nasdaq: BVSN) fell 3 percent ahead of Friday's opening bell after a downgrade, citing a possible lack of customer traction as the company moves to a new product.

Broadvision is switching over to a new product architecture, expected to ship in the first quarter.

"In our experience, it takes multiple releases of a new product to gain traction... we believe new customers may hold off to deploy BVSN's solution until late (first or second quarter.)" said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Brent Thill in a research note.

Thill downgraded the stock to "buy" from "strong buy," and said it was preferable to sit on the sidelines until evidence of traction, which would become apparent in the first or second quarter.

"System integrators we have spoken with share the same concern," Thill said. "While BEA Systems (Nasdaq: BEAS) provides a patch, it will still take time to integrate the products together," Thill added.

He maintained expectations for fourth quarter income of $130.6 million and earnings of 5 cents a share, despite the fact that "the e-commerce applications landscape has become more crowded with other credible solutions."

Trading at 11 times its calendar year 2001 revenue -- compared to Art Technology Group (Nasdaq: ARTG) at 6.8 times revenue, Vignette (Nasdaq: VIGN) at 6.1 times revenue and Blue Martini Software (Nasdaq: BLUE) at 9.1 times revenue -- Broadvision remains the richest valued name in the e-commerce application industry, Thill added.