Benchmark On The Internet Sector
Benchmark has downgraded the Internet sector from Overweight to Market Weight and core internet holdings currently are believed to be Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN).
In the report, Benchmark writes "The Internet Holdings Company Depositary Receipts Index (NYSE: HHH) gained 9% thus far in 2010 and has slightly exceeded the overall US stock market which saw the S&P 500 Index (^GSC) and the NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) up 5% and 7%, respectively. Modest economic recovery combined with steady market share gains and financial flow-through propelled the outperformance of Internet stocks. However, the economy slowed in 3Q10, consumer confidence remains low and comparables are tougher in 2H10 compared to 1H10. As a result, we believe the acceleration of growth rates has passed."
Companies related to this report include:
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Buy
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Hold
eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) Hold
GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) Hold
Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN) Buy
Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) Buy
Orbitz (NYSE: OWW) Buy
Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) Sell
InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP) Buy
ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) Buy
AOL (NYSE: AOL) Hold
Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) Hold
Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) Buy
Terremark (NASDAQ: TMRK) Buy
Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) Hold
Rackspace (NYSE: RAX) Hold
IAC (NASDAQ: IACI) Hold
Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX) Hold
OpenTable (NASDAQ: OPEN) Hold
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) not rated
