Hoover's Online Q1 2001 IPO Analysis Reveals Downward IPOuch! Spiral

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hoover's IPO Scorecard Now Available On Hoover's IPO Central

AUSTIN, TEXAS - April 2, 2001 - To say that the IPO market for the first quarter of 2001 was "quiet" would be quite an understatement, according to Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), the premier online information resource for businesspeople. Hoover's Online is operated by Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV), a leading provider of online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology. The latest Hoover's IPO Scorecard (www.hoovers.com/ipo/scorecard) shows only 21 companies went public in Q1 2001, compared to 136 companies in Q1 2000, an 85% decline. Hoover's IPO Scorecard is produced by Hoover's Online editors and is part of a regular series of quarterly wrap-ups of IPO activity released on Hoover's IPO Central.

Not only is the well drying up in the number of companies actually going public, but the percentage of returns is also on a steep decline for those enterprises that have actually bitten the bullet and gone ahead with their IPOs. From offer price to the close of Q1 2001, the best-returning IPO was Williams Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: WEG), at 40%. This follows on the heels of the best-returning IPO for Q4 2000, Specialty Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: SP), at 111%, and is a far cry from the best-returning IPO of Q1 2000, webMethods, Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBM), at 590%.

Sample findings from Hoover's IPO Scorecard for the first quarter of 2001:

• Best First-Day Gain: Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGN) 33% Worst First-Day Drop: SureBeam Corporation (Nasdaq: SURE) -14%
• While Align Technology had the strongest first-day IPO performance, the maker of the Invisalign teeth-straightening appliance turned in the second-worst IPO showing by the end of Q1 2001.

The top 10 best-returning IPOs for Q1:

	Offer	Q4 Close	Return
Williams Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: WEG)	$21.50	$30.10	40%
Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE: OIS)	$9.00	$11.25	25%
Verisity Ltd. (Nasdaq: VRST)	$7.00	$8.44	21%
CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO)	$15.40	$17.60	14%
AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCE)	$17.00	$19.25	13%
Stelmar Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: SJH)	$12.00	$12.97	8%
Agere Systems Inc. (NYSE: AGRA)	$6.00	$6.18	3%
AquaCell Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: AQA)	$5.00	$5.05	1%
Loudcloud, Inc. (Nasdaq: LDCL)	$6.00	$5.72	-5%
SureBeam Corporation (Nasdaq: SURE)	$10.00	$9.31	-7%

"When IPOs have to compete with larger, already public stocks, many of which are also taking a huge hit, it should come as no surprise that Q1 2001 has been so devoid of IPO activity," said Justin Burrows, money editor for Hoover's Online. "For those select few companies that have not withdrawn or postponed their IPOs, lowering their offering price several times, as seen with Agere Systems (NYSE: AGRA), seems to be the latest trend. However, investors generally don't take this as a good sign, so we likely won't see a resurgence in the IPO market any time soon -- at least until the overall U.S. economy improves."

Hoover's IPO Scorecard includes comparisons of underwriter pricings to first-day trading prices, as well as breakdowns by exchange and industry category. The Scorecard also includes a list of the quarter's richest CEOs, the 10 biggest first-day jumps and drops, the 10 best- and worst-returning IPOs, and comparisons of profitable vs. non-profitable companies.

About Hoover's, Inc.
Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV) provides online business information, tools, and content integration and syndication technology to help businesspeople get their jobs done. Hoover's information is available through its destination sites Hoover's Online (http://www.hoovers.com) and the company's other sites in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K., through syndication and co-branding agreements with more than 30 other online services, and through customized applications developed for enterprise information portals, corporate intranets and business-to-business vertical and content sites. Hoover's investors include AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), Media General (AMEX: MEG.A), NBC -- a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Knowledge Universe, through its Knowledge Net Holdings and Nextera Enterprises (Nasdaq: NXRA) units. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has offices in London, New York City and San Francisco.

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