Top 10 Best and Worst Internet Stocks of 2009

After a dismal 2008, Internet stocks crushed the overall market in 2009, with the sector up +89.9% vs. the NASDAQ's +43.9% gain and the S&P 500's +23.5% gain.  The average Internet stock gained +91.6% indicating that the gains were pretty evenly spread across small and large cap companies.

Despite this year’s massive really, the Internet sector is still down -9.2% compared to year-end 2007, but it has performed much better than the overall market, as the S&P 500 remains down -24.1% vs. year end 2007.

2009 Top 10 Best Performing Internet Stocks
There’s no clear theme to this year’s crop of winners, other than they were all big losers last year.  The average Top 10 stock this year was off -64.3% in 2008 vs. the sector’s -52.2% decline. To be included on this year's list, a stock had to start the year with at least a $20M market cap.  Despite that very low bar, fully 15% of Internet stocks did not qualify.  Of the ones that did here are the Top 10 Performers:

1. Internet Gold
   Price Change: 710% Ticker: IGLD
   Comment:  After being down 80% in 2008 this Israeli ISP was true to its name in 2009.  The cynic in me wonders just how much of this price appreciation was due to the fact that IGLD has “Gold” in its name, but it is what it is.
2. Local.com
   Price Change: 275% Ticker:LOCM
   Comment:  Local advertising became a hot topic in 2009 and Local.com benefited from the buzz as well as signs of real traction in its business model.
3. US Auto Parts
   Price Change: 274% Ticker: PRTS
   Comment:  The web’s largest retailer of auto parts was down 83% in 2008 as the entire auto industry imploded, however PRTS saw a decent recovery in 2009 as investors realized that old cars still need new parts.
4. Kongzhong
   Price Change: 270% Ticker:KONG
   Comment:  This Chinese mobile internet services provider saw good growth, especially in it’s mobile gaming business.
5. Tree.com
   Price Change: 252% Ticker: TREE
   Comment: Otherwise known as LendingTree, this online mortgage lead gen site recovered from a brutal 2008 thanks to cost cutting and a favorable mortgage refinancing environment.
6. Webzen
   Price Change: 251% Ticker: OMTR
   Comment: Webzen is a major Asian provider of online games, especially in Korea.  It was down 78% in 2008 but saw good growth in 2009 and renewed investor enthusiasm for online gaming.
7. YouBet.com
   Price Change: 238% Ticker: UBET
   Comment: Youbet is the only public company to operate a legal online gambling site in the US (online betting for horse races is legal in the US). It saw questions about its viability subside in 2009.
8. Packet 8
   Price Change: 219% Ticker: EGHT
   Comment:  This provider of SMB focused hosted IP PBX VOIP systems became solidly profitable in 2009 and benefited from investor enthusiasm for all things SaaS.
9. Mercadolibre
   Price Change: 216% Ticker: MELI
   Comment: Brazil’s answer to EBay and Amazon recovered from emerging market jitters in 2008 to post a strong growth in 2009.
10. Bidu.com
    Price Change: 215% Ticker: BIDU
    Comment: China's leading search engine recovered from a -67% loss in 2008 as it put distance between itself and Google and clearly enjoyed the favor of the Chinese government.

By the way, the top performing internet stock in 2009, regardless of market cap, was VOIP services provider Delta Three (DDDC), it was up a whopping 2,213%.  Despite this amazing gain DDDC is still down -7.5% from its year end 2007 close.  Now that’s a ride!

2008 Top 10 Worst Performing Internet Stocks

Believe it or not, there were some Internet stocks that did not go straight up this year.  In fact about 15% of Internet stocks actually went down this year, a truly dubious achievement when the rest of the sector was up 90%.   As with our top performers, to be included on this list of shame, a stock had to start the year with at least $20M in market cap. The Top 10 Worst Performning Internet Stocks of 2009 are:  

1. EDiets.com
   Price Change: -63% Ticker: DIET
   Comment:  DIET almost starved itself to death in 2009.
2. Bidz.com
   Price Change: -57% Ticker:BIDZ
   Comment:  This Canadian competitor to Blue Nile ran into the two words most dreaded by a public company: accounting irregularities. 
3. The9 Limited
   Price Change: -46%% Ticker: NCTY
   Comment:  Having the World of Warcraft license for online game crazy China is a sure thing right?  Not if the Chinese government bans it.
4. Atrinsic
   Price Change: -43% Ticker:ATRN
   Comment:  Not a good year for this online marketing services company.
5. Gigamedia
   Price Change: -42% Ticker: GIGM
   Comment: Online gaming and gambling company saw revenues from its European poker and Asian gaming divisions fall.
6. Looksmart
   Price Change: -37% Ticker: LOOK
   Comment:This search services provider searched in vain for a viable business model in 2009.
7. 1–800–Flowers.com
   Price Change: -31% Ticker: FLWS
   Comment: If you know a investor in 1–800–Flowers in 2009 you might want to order them some lillys.
8. Chartwell Technology
   Price Change: -28% Ticker: CWH.TO
   Comment:  This Canadian listed provided of online gaming technology saw few customers in 2009.
9. Marchex
   Price Change: -13% Ticker: MCHX
   Comment: This online "pay for performance" marketer was hurt by mounting consumer complaints and a congressional investigation into the industry.

Note: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell these stocks or anything else.  It is not investment advice, it is just an objective list of past stock performance.  Please see my disclaimer at the bottom of this post.