Spyglass stock surges
Shares of Spyglass rocketed up 35 percent to close at 8-1/4 today, up 2-1/8 over yesterday; a big gain in revenues for the quarter is the reason why.
Shares of Spyglass rocketed up 35 percent to close at 8-1/4 today, up 2-1/8 over yesterday.
The Naperville, Illinois-based Web software developer reported revenues of $12 million for the quarter, $8 million of which came in a one-time payment by Microsoft, which uses the Spyglass Mosaic technology in its Internet Explorer browser. The revenues compare with revenues of $5 million posted by the company for the same period last year.
Spyglass reported net income of $2.1 million, or 16 cents a share, for the quarter ended in March, compared with $752,000 in net income or 6 cents a share for the March 1996 quarter.
The earnings, however, were below Wall Street's expectations. According to a FirstCall consensus estimate, financial analysts had predicted earnings of 20 cents a share.
The company incurred a one-time pretax charge of $900,000 for expenses related to the closure of its Champaign, Illinois, development center and consolidation with operations at its Naperville headquarters and Cambridge, Massachusetts, office, the company said.
During the quarter, Spyglass said it rolled out a new version of its Spyglass MicroServer and began limited availability for latest version of the Spyglass Device Mosaic.
The company said it signed up new customers among makers of network computers. New customers signed in the first three months of the year include Network Computing Devices, IBM, which started shipping the IBM Network Stations this week, and ViewCall America, which uses Spyglass technology in its On-TV Internet television product.
The company said it also struck a deal with Xerox, which has licensed Spyglass MicroServer for use in its office equipment development efforts.
In other news, the company said chief technology officer Tim Krauskopf, who helped found the company, will be leaving his full-time post to pursue a postgraduate degree, while Brian Jackman has joined the company's board as a replacement for Bill Kaiser.