INK financial insights

about their lease, but other tidbits as well

[rcjordan]

lease... requires Inktomi to maintain a minimum level of profitability, when in fact it has hemorrhaged cash.

Inktomi's troubles hit headquarters [sfgate.com]

[Mike_Mackin]

"Analysts said Inktomi's latest real estate problems have already been priced into the stock. They said that the company has enough cash to continue operations for a while, but that getting healthy will be difficult."

FOR A WHILE

[rcjordan]

>WHILE

You remember the dotcom morgue, Mr Mackin? It's been a while since we calculated crash dates. What's their burn rate, anyone know?

Inktomi had previously set aside $119.6 million to cover the cost of the lease and related expenses. Absent that money, the company would have $15.3 million in cash and $74.7 million in short term investments, as of June 30.

[mayor]

I'm apalled! How can a company with Inktomi's dismal performance rationalize loaning it's chief executive $4.9 million dollars? This, on top of him exercising $88 million in stock options in the past few years.

Anyone care to speculate what MSN will do if Inktomi goes belly-up? With troubled loans and shares of common going for 41 cents it looks to me like Ink is about to arrive at the SE boneyard.

[Brett_Tabke]

And if they get the Yahoo deal - it's a whole new ball game.

[mayor]

Brett, I'd love to see that happening but do you think Yahoo would go with Ink given Ink's current financial weakness? Could a deal with Yahoo save them, or are they beyond hope?

[rcjordan]

>whole new ball game.

Extra innings, at the very least.

<added>
>Yahoo

What is INK's market cap now that a share of stock is pocketchange? One of the bigger SEs could make a consolidation move.

[Mike_Mackin]

52.93M

[mayor]

How sound is Ink's technology? It it worth buying or is it a black money hole?

[littleman]

I don't know if yahoo would be enough to save inktomi -- the model is still dependent on webmasters seeing a value in their 'product'.

[starec]

> Anyone care to speculate what MSN will do if Inktomi goes belly-up

Since they view google as a kind of competition, they would have no other choice but to go Fast.

[korkus2000]

Brett keeps pointing out about ink and yahoo. Do you know something Brett?

[rcjordan]

>no other choice but to go Fast

<idle speculation>
Or buy INK, and bolt it onto MSN.

[Brett_Tabke]

Ink has tech to burn Mayor. They've got all those unused caching systems just laying around.

[littleman]

Well something is going to have to happen soon, the stock closed today at 0.36. Rc, your idea is interesting, but MSN would then have the burden of Ink's financial liabilities. Maybe they will sell the infrastructure, and assets to MSN -- this way MSN gets all the benefit of an inktomi fire sale without assuming responsibilities?

Maybe Ink will just sell that devision, have the staff rehired at msn and bankrupt what is left over?

[redzone]

Ink shifted focus about 15 months ago, to Enterprise search services. They bought Infoseeks site/network search product, and re-tooled it, very successfully.

If you look at the Corps that are using Ink's Enterprise search products, it's a Who's Who list of America's Corporates...

I'm not sure that it was a bad strategy, stock prices were "over valued" to begin with. Also, with the ".com" fallout in late '99, further support for the shift in focus.

The move to PFI and Index Connect, was a step back into the web search market, and a way to increase their "rev share" concept with portal partners utilizing Ink Web SERP's.

Ink has proven they are a "long term" player with multi-year relationships with MSN/AOL/Yahoo.. Don't think the accounting blunder is going to drive Ink into receivership, for a second..

If/when Ink lands the Yahoo deal (By the way it would make web history, as no search provider has ever landed the Yahoo contract on 2 occasions), it will once again solidify them, as they would be providing results to 2 out of the big 3? :)

[korkus2000]

Here is the outcome

[inktomi.com...]

Inktomi Corp. (NASDAQ: INKT) today announced it has executed multiple real estate transactions that include removing the company from its long-term lease obligation at Parkside Towers, a newly constructed unoccupied office complex in Foster City, Calif. In addition, the company exercised the purchase option on the synthetic lease for its Bayside corporate headquarters, plans to sell the facility, and has been guaranteed a buyer with a minimum sale price.

[jeremy goodrich]

There was two of these threads (thought I was losing it for a second...):
[webmasterworld.com...]

:) RCJ, looks like Mike beat you by two days he he.

And am I the only one who reads even this 'press release' as not so good news for the financially troubled company?

Littleman - good point about their product being reliant on webmasters to see 'value' in it for them to make that purchase decision.

Even from pages that have receieved INK traffic recently, it looks to me like on the whole it's not worth the price. Even when it's free lol.

[korkus2000]

I don't think it sounds very good either. They are consolidating. It is always the first step to going under.