When a start-up company bursts on the market and distributes more than 38 million units of its product, increases its workforce tenfold in two years, and builds a revenue stream of more than $300 million, the investment community, not to mention the competition, takes notice. This research examines Netscape's short history, its financial performance, the competition that the company faces, and the prospects of Netscape as a career choice.
Netscape Communications (NSCP) develops software that enables information exchange and commerce over the Internet (the global computer network) and intranets (enterprise-specific computer networks). Netscape products allow individuals and corporations to conduct secure financial transactions across the Internet, including buying and selling, which makes its products attractive to the business community at large. In addition, the Netscape Navigator is used to interact with the World Wide Web (Web) to create, manipulate and retrieve documents that contain formatted text, audio/video clips and graphic images.
Since the company's initial public offering (IPO) in 1995, the company's stock has been volatile, but has continued to remain above the IPO price. The company took the unusual step of announcing a
The following chart, which uses a logarithmic scale to illustrate percentage changes, shows the company's stock price history since its initial offering:
At this point, Netscape dominates several of the markets in which it participates, and it continues to remain a favorite among high-technology investors. However, the company is facing increased criticism from analysts and investors who are concerned about the company's largest competitor, Microsoft, and the steps that Microsoft is likely to take to protect its own market share.
Netscape's product offerings currently include Netscape Navigator, which offers Web exploring, e-mail, newsgroups, chat and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) t...