The Other Side of IPO Story

The initial public offering market has been welcoming many Internet and biotech stocks with open arms, but several IPOs are just feeling squeezed. Among Tuesday’s victims:

* John Hancock Financial Services (JHF) shares slid further below their recent offering price, dropping $2 to $14 on the New York Stock Exchange. The insurer’s stock, which went public Jan. 27 at $17, has dropped more than 20% in the last two sessions.

Analysts said underwriter Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. appeared to have reduced its support for the stock, though Morgan Stanley wouldn’t comment.

Of the 57 companies that have gone public this year, nine are trading below their offering prices, according to data firm CommScan.

* Shares of Long Beach-based B2bstores.com Inc. (BTBC), a 7-month-old company with no revenue, barely budged after the online business-supply company’s $32-million initial sale at $8 apiece on Tuesday. The stock rose 13 cents to $8.13 on Nasdaq.

B2bstores.com was in danger of going broke without the money raised from the IPO, its auditor warned in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

* Other tech IPOs also did little Tuesday on Nasdaq. Reston, Va.-based Savvis Communications Corp. (SVVS), the data-network services unit of Bridge Information Systems Inc., was unchanged at $24 in its debut. And Washington-based VarsityBooks.com Inc. (VSTY), the No. 2 Web site for college students buying textbooks, slid 13 cents to $9.88.