NetObjects wilts on 4Q miss

NetObjects shares fell 44 cents, or 18 percent, to $2.06 Friday, one day after it fell short of analysts' estimates in its fourth quarter.

In the quarter, NetObjects (Nasdaq: NETO) lost $8 million, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $5.4 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected it to lose 16 cents a share in the quarter.

The $5.4 million in sales marks a 7 percent decline from the year-ago quarter when it lost $4 million, or 16 cents a share, on sales of $5.8 million.

"The Internet software industry is going through a tremendous transformation, and NetObjects is forging ahead with a new strategic direction," said CEO Samir Arora in a prepared release. Fiscal 2000 has been a year of growth and change, and we are ending it with the launch of our new online business-to-business strategy."

For the year, NetObjects lost $22.2 million, or 76 cents a share, on sales of $34.2 million.

Its shares moved as high as $45.69 in March before falling to a low of $1.50 in October.

Two of the three analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."