I still am interested in QUOT, though I have not yet pulled the trigger. While QUOT has gained some significant traction and this is a niche that should eventually prosper on the Internet, I have several concerns:
--- Even though they own a 5% interest in QUOT, INTU sold its online insurance division to InsWeb. INTU not only received an equity interest in InsWeb, but will also have an economic interest in seeing InsWeb prosper at the expense of QUOT: "Under the agreements, InsWeb will acquire selected assets of Intuit's QuickenInsurance(SM) business. In exchange, Intuit will receive a 16.6 percent post-closing equity stake in InsWeb. Based on the closing price of InsWeb's stock on Nov. 24, 2000, and the number of shares expected to be received, the equity value of the transaction is expected to be approximately $14 million. In addition, under a separate five-year agreement, InsWeb will become the exclusive consumer insurance aggregator for Intuit's Quicken.com and QuickenInsurance Web sites and certain consumer desktop products. In exchange, Intuit will share in associated revenues, which are subject to certain minimums. Also, Intuit has agreed to work to transition its relationships with its online distribution sources to InsWeb."
--- While they made some progress in reducing their burn rate last quarter, primarily because they cut back on their marketing expenditures, I was disappointed that the sales declined 23% sequentially. Obviously, the marketing dollars have a major impact on sales. It will be interesting to see what happens this quarter.
--- They have traded under $1 since November 21, 2000 and they are probably going to be delisted from Nasdaq. If you are going to purchase the stock, wait for the delisting announcement and you may be able to buy it at $.50 or less. Just a thought. |
