Overtaking Amazon

Amazon.com, the top online bookseller, has lost its title as the most valuable Internet retailerat least for nowto EBay, the leading Net auctioneer. San Jose-based EBay, which was founded as a forum for trading Pez dispensers, passed Amazon.com in market value Monday after EBays shares jumped $21.75 to close at a record $171, giving it a value of $20.7 billion. That compares with a market value of $19.3 billion for Seattle-based Amazon.com, based on its close of $122.19, up 69 cents.

This is some serious post-split euphoria, said BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan. EBay split its shares 3-for-1 last week. The split makes the shares appear more affordable to investors spooked by Internet stock prices that at times exceeded $300. The opportunity Amazon is addressing over time is probably bigger than EBay’s, but investors are eager to buy shares when they appear to be trading at a lower price, Levitan said.

How They Stack Up

A look at the market capitalizations of selected Internet commerce companies, along with the latest share prices and each stock’s year-to-date change:

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Market Ticker Monday capitalization, YTD Company symbol close in billions change EBay EBAY $171.00 $20.7 +112.6% Amazon.com AMZN 122.19 19.3 +14.1 Beyond.com BYND 22.75 0.6 +14.5 UBid UBID 72.31 0.6 32.0 Cyberian Outpost COOL 18.94 0.4 -31.1 Egghead.com EGGS 14.38 0.4 -30.9 CDNow CDNW 14.63 0.3 -18.8 Books-a-Million BAMM 9.81 0.2 -24.8 Shopping.com IBUY 17.94 0.1 +40.0

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Source: Bloomberg News