Autoweb Faces NASDAQ Delisting

New York - After hitting a one-time high of $50 per share after their initial offering just two years ago, Autoweb.com may now have reached rock bottom.

Autoweb's stock, which opened this morning at about 37 cents, has now closed at less than one dollar for over 90 consecutive trading days. According to NASDAQ rules, Autoweb can be granted a hearing, but will then in all likelihood be moved to the NASDAQ OTC Bulletin Board, a less liquid and prestigious marketplace. Interest in the stock has also apparently nose dived with recent daily trading volume at about only 10-15% of its historical average. According to company sources, the hearing will take place within the next 45 days.

Autoweb also revealed yesterday that they have retained the services of Credit Suisse First Boston to explore strategic options after being informed by NASDAQ that they no longer qualified for listing. "Strategic options" often is defined as "finding a purchaser". The company, which has never reported a profit in its business history has been included in Barron's continuing study of "Burning Dotcoms". For the fiscal year ending 12/31/00, Autoweb reported a net loss of $38.4 million, up from $18.2 million the previous year.

Speaking at a JD Powers' automotive conference last June, Dean DeBiase, Autoweb's Chairman and then CEO, denied the company's poor financial condition and boldly claimed that the company was now "Business Plan Agnostic": a rather shocking revelation given that the company raised hundreds of millions of dollars on what management felt was a very distinct and workable business plan. In a January 2001 press release, the company predicted a net profit for the 4th quarter of this year. However, it remains to be seen if Autoweb will even survive the year, as other dotcom companies that have gone through similar financial downturns were forced into bankruptcy and the discontinuance of all operations.

MJR