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GO.com beats 2Q forecast
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May 2, 2000: 7:02 p.m. ET
Commerce, advertising sales help Web portal beat Street despite earnings loss
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - GO.com, the Walt Disney Company's Internet portal and direct marketing business, on Tuesday reported a much narrower than expected second quarter loss on the strength of a nearly 40 percent rise in overall sales.
For the quarter ended March 31, the North Hollywood, Calif.-based company reported a net loss excluding non-cash amortization of $72.6 million, or 47 cents a share compared with a net loss of 39 cents a share in the year-ago period.
That exceeds analysts' projections for a net loss of 54 cents a share, according to earnings tracker First Call/Thomson Financial.
The company also reported an operating loss of $126.7 million.
Disney acquired all the assets of GO.com in November, 1999, when it was the Infoseek Corp., in which Disney already held a majority stake.
Including one-time charges related to the acquisition of Infoseek, the company posted a net loss of $292.2 million, or $1.88 a share, compared to a loss of $1.66 a share in the year-earlier period.
Revenue for the quarter rose 38 percent to $97.6 million from $70.8 million on a pro forma basis, which means sales have been calculated as if Disney had owned GO.com since the beginning of fiscal 1999.
But a 10 percent drop in Disney's catalog operations kept sales from being higher.
"The performance of GO.com continues to reflect the nascent stage of both the Internet economy and our Internet business," Michael Eisner, Disney's chairman and chief executive officer said. "As with virtually every other Internet company, GO is investing as it builds for the future."
Internet commerce sales rose 67 percent to $146.5 million from $73.6 for the same period a year ago.
Media revenue, primarily from advertising and sponsorships on Disney's Web sites ESPN.com, the GO.com portal, Family.com and Disney.com, rose 60 percent to $108 million from $55.6 million in the year-ago quarter.
Shares of GO.com (GO: Research, Estimates) gained 1-1/4 to close at 14-1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. 
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GO.com
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