Shares of MyPoints jump on membership growth
Shares of MyPoints.com jump more than 25 percent after the company says 5 million members are participating in its Web-based direct marketing incentive programs.
Despite a down day for the markets, shares of MyPoints gained more than 11 to reach 53.5 before sliding back slightly in morning trading.
Shares of the company, which went public in August, have quadrupled since mid-October, when they were trading at less than 12.
MyPoints offers points that can be redeemed for such products and services as travel awards, prepaid phone cards and gift certificates. Consumers accumulate points by browsing the Web, reading Internet-based email and shopping at affiliated sites.
During October and November, the company said it handled an average of 6.7 million transactions a month. That's up from its average monthly figure of 4.6 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
The company's membership rose 21 percent to 5.1 million as of Nov. 30, compared with 4.2 million members on Sept. 30.
"We are experiencing a healthy increase in member activity and member growth across the MyPoints Network and the private label Internet loyalty programs that we manage," chief executive Steve Markowitz said in a statement.
Shares of MyPoints' competitor CyberGold are up 66 percent from its IPO price of $9. Online sweepstakes start-up Webstakes.com is up about 10 percent from its offering price of $14.