MarketWatch.com tops estimates

MarketWatch.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTW) said Wednesday its fourth quarter loss was 64 cents a share, just beating First Call's consensus estimate of 66 cents a share.

Shares in the interactive financial media company closed at 45 Tuesday, well below their 52-week high of 107.

Revenue was up a whopping 300 percent from last year's fourth quarter to $10 million for the quarter ended December 31, and up 43 percent over revenue of $7 million in the previous quarter.

Pro forma net loss for the fourth quarter of 1999, excluding amortization of goodwill and intangibles, was $8.9 million, or 64 cents a share, based on 13.9 million shares. Also included in the net loss is $4.4 million of CBS non-cash advertising expense.

The company also reported revenue of $24.9 million for the fiscal year, an increase of 256 percent over revenue of $7 million in the comparable period of 1998. Pro forma net loss for 1999, was $30.1 million, or $2.32 per share, based on 13.0 million shares. Also included in the net loss is $14 million of CBS non-cash advertising expense.

Other key metrics showed business was going strong, the company said; its web sites served 525 million page views in the quarter, an increase of 21 percent from the third quarter of 1999, and up 228 percent from the fourth quarter of 1998.

The company said it continues to focus on broadening its core news reporting and commentary for Internet, television and radio while expanding its emerging broadband operations. During the quarter, it linked with AOL (NYSE: AOL) to become the provider of business news across several of its brands.