Net bummer: Newly public CMP Media Inc. learned firsthand Tuesday what can happen when it must display its less-than-pristine laundry for all to see. The aggressively successful publisher began trading in late July and until this week had gotten a pretty good ride, rising from an IPO price of US$22 a share to as high as $29.
On Dark Gray Monday, the company held its own as issues collapsed all around it. On Tuesday, though, as the rest of the market launched into max-rally mode, came an utterance attributed to CMP president and chief executive officer Michael Leeds: The company is having problems in its Internet businesses, and revenues would be much lower than expected.
Although Internet publishing is a tiny corner of CMP's business, accounting for about 3 percent of revenues, the comments punched the bottom out of the company's stock. It collapsed from 24 3/8 to 13 3/4; before rallying to close down 25 percent for the day at 18 1/4;. The plunge prompted Bear Stearns to up its rating on the stock to "buy" from "attractive."
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He just wants to run the company: The word hasn't come from the man's own lips yet, but Steve Jobs is being quoted by various third parties as saying he doesn't want to be Apple's permanent chief executive officer. Lawrence Levy, chief financial officer of Jobs' Pixar film venture, said today that the Apple co-founder told analysts on a conference call Monday that he was not interested in the job. "He was honest about it," Levy said. "He said nothing has changed, he is the interim CEO of Apple, and they will put in a new CEO by the end of the year."
On DGM, Apple's stock alone among the issues in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose (18.8 cents). The increase was attributed to rumors that Jobs would take the permanent position.
