Cnet Stock Tumbles on Word of Losses

Cnet Inc., a provider of information about technology on the Internet and through TV programs, said it will have losses for the third and fourth quarters and all of 1999 as it spends $100 million on advertising, sending its shares down more than 10%.

“I’m not sure the people who were recommending the stock were expecting such a large amount. The number is shocking,” said Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Larry Marcus.

Analysts had expected Cnet to earn 21 cents a share in 1999. Marcus said he now expects a loss of 50 cents. To build its recognition among technology enthusiasts and executives compared with rival Web sites such as Yahoo and America Online, Cnet’s ad campaign will run over the next 18 months in newspapers and magazines and on TV, billboards and the Internet.

Shares of San Francisco-based Cnet fell $5.88 to close at $51.75 on Nasdaq.