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Netpliance and Integrated Information gain in debut

2 min read

Netpliance (Nasdaq: NPLI) gained 6 7/8 to 24 7/8, or 38 percent, after it priced shares at $18 apiece. Shares will trade Friday and demand looks strong for shares of a company that has virtually no revenue.

The company upped its price range to $15-17 from the original $12-14 range.

Netpliance is pioneering a new model for delivering the Internet experience through consumer appliances. In November 1999 it launched its "i-opener service," which integrates an Internet appliance, access, and consumer portal.

The company was incorporated in January 1999, and began offering its i-opener service in November. Since inception, it's had virtually no revenue, though its racked up massive losses by subsidizing its "i-opener."

As of December 31, Netpliance had an accumulated deficit of $43.5 million, but had generated only $25,716 in revenue. The company said it expects to continue spending significant amounts to subsidize the purchase price of its i-opener. It also said sales and marketing, research and development, and general and administrative expenses will increase significantly.

Netpliance lists as competitors online service providers, such as AOL (NYSE: AOL), EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT); software platform providers such as Aether Systems (Nasdaq: AETH) and Liberate Technologies (Nasdaq: LBRT); Internet portals, such as Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM), Lycos (Nasdaq: LCOS) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO); manufacturers of other stand-alone Internet appliances, such as InfoGear and WebTV; and manufacturers of portable Internet appliances, such as Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HWP) and Palm (Nasdaq: PALM).

Lead underwriter for the offering is Donaldson Lufkin, & Jenrette and co-managers are Chase H&Q and Robertson Stephens.

Among other IPOs Friday:

  • Integrated Information Systems (Nasdaq: IISX), an e-business consultant, gained 8 1/16 to 23 1/16 after it joined the slew of competitors going public, and priced shares at $15 for trading Friday.

    Judging by the modest debut of Digitas (Nasdaq: DTAS) earlier this week, the enthusiasm for new entries into the consulting and services field may be waning.

    Though the company has reported losses since inception, revenue has skyrocketed. For the year ended December 31, Integrated Information Systems had a net loss of $1.6 million on revenue of $21.2 million, compared to a loss of $1.2 million on revenue of $7.6 million in 1998.

    Integrated Information Systems competes with web consulting firms such as Agency.com (Nasdaq: ACOM), Diamond Technology Partners (Nasdaq: DTPI), iXL Enterprises (Nasdaq: IIXL), Proxicom (Nasdaq: PXCM), Razorfish (Nasdaq: RAZF), Scient (Nasdaq: SCNT), USWeb/CKS (Nasdaq: USWB) and US Interactive (Nasdaq: USIT). It also competes with larger systems integrators, such as Andersen Consulting.