Tag - Naps

Shares of Napster Inc. (Nasdaq:NAPS) nearly doubled their value this morning after the company said it is being acquired by retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY) for $121 million, or $2.65 per share.

As part of the deal, which was announced before the opening this morning, Minneapolis, Minn.-based Best Buy will take over Los Angeles-based Napster’s approximately 700,000 digital entertainment subscribers, its Web-based customer service platform and mobile capabilities.

Napster had fiscal 2008 revenue of $127.5 million.

By late morning, Napster is at $2.53, up $1.17 from Friday’s close. The stock has ranged between $1.03 and $3.71 during the past 52 weeks.

For detailed price information and news stories on Napster, click NAPS.

Napster, Inc. (Nasdaq: NAPS), the formerly notorious music-sharing company that now bills itself as “the most popular on-demand music subscription service in the world,” is positioning itself to become the leading content provider for music-enabled cell phones, CEO William Gorog said in a conference call after the close of Wednesday’s trading.

“We have never had greater excitement,” Gorog said on the call. “We believe our base of on-demand music subscribers is greater than all other on-demand subscription services combined.”

In the first quarter of 2008 ending June 30, the company expects revenues of $31 million, from $28.1 million the prior year, on improved gross margins and lowered operational expenses, CFO Nand Gangwani said on the call. The company predicts a net loss between $6 million and $7 million, or $0.14 a share, Gangwani said. This would be an improvement on the first quarter 2007 loss of $9.8 million, or $0.26 a share.

CEO Gorog forecasted an industry shift from standalone MP3 players to music-enabled cell phones.

“In 2008, music-enabled cell phones will easily eclipse sales of MP3 players,” Gorog said. “In the near future, most consumers will own a portable device that is compatible with Napster.”

Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: NINE) won a contract from the People's Republic of China to service the free import/export e-filing software provided by the PRC Inspection Administration, the company said in a release from Beijing after the close. Ninetowns provides online solutions for international trade. In after-hours trading, the company's shares were up $0.40, or 10.53%, at $4.20.

Design Within Reach (Nasdaq: DWRI) reported first-quarter results after the close, saying net sales-- comprised of product and shipping revenue--increased 25.1% to $43.8 million, from $35.0 million in the same period last year. The loss before income tax benefit decreased to $3.8 million, an improvement of 41.5% from a loss before income tax benefit of $6.5 million in the same period last year. The net loss for the three months ended March 31 was $3.8 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2006. The San Francisco-based luxury home furnishing company maintained guidance for about $190 million in revenue in 2007, and breakeven earnings. Design Within Reach ended Wednesday at 6.20, down $0.13.

Napster Inc. (Nasdaq: NAPS), the pioneering music download service with the Hello Kitty-esque logo, let the cat out of the bag in 2006: It was exploring its options. Could this cool cat -- which remains a fairly popular service, especially in Europe -- be running out of lives as a publicly traded company?

Heading into the release on Wednesday of its financial results for fiscal 2007, there has been little indication that anyone is interested in taking over the Napster brand and running with it.

By all accounts, Napster is on about its fourth life, as far as an Internet company – and cats –  go. The question is whether it can survive long enough to use up all nine of them.