Media Metrix Soars as Rival Services Loom
In the face of increasing competition in the Web audience measuring business, Media Metrix Inc. stock more than doubled in its first day of trading on Friday.
The company’s stock closed at $45.56 a share, 168% above its $17 offering price and 38% above the $33 bid that opened trading on Nasdaq. Its shares dipped as low as $32.50 and rose as high as $54.63. The company closed with a market value of $762.2 million.
New York-based Media Metrix surveys PC users to see how many people visit certain Web sites. Their studies help set advertising rates. The company controls about 95% of the market for measuring Internet audiences and is considered the most accurate Web measurement service.
The firm is likely to soon face competition from Nielsen Media Research Inc., the leading provider of television-audience measurement services. Nielsen formed a partnership in October with NetRatings Inc. in a bid to provide Internet audience measurement services.
Like other Internet firms that launch successful IPOs based on little to no earnings, Media Metrix lost $7.5 million on revenue of $6.3 million last year, compared with a loss of $4.9 million on revenue of $3.2 million in 1997.
It merged with its chief competitor, Atlanta-based Relevant Knowledge, in November. On a pro forma basis, as if the companies had been merged for the full year, the company lost $16.2 million on revenue of $8.1 million in 1998. Media Metrix on Thursday sold 3 million shares, or an 18% stake, at $17 each, raising $51 million.
