VBW Rates DoubleClick a "Buy"

Volpe Brown Whelan & Co. initiated coverage of online ad company DoubleClick Inc. with a “buy” rating and a $250 target stock price.

DoubleClick stock closed Tuesday at TKTKTK.

VPN e-marketing analyst Richard Petersen said DoubleClick “is the leading Internet advertising network and a core e-marketing company.”

“We are initiating coverage of DoubleClick with a Buy rating because of its leading position in the e-marketing sector,” said Petersen. “DoubleClick’s recent acquisitions of Abacus Direct and NetGravity, combined with its new product development, are positioning the company as a leading provider of enabling technology and services for Internet advertising.”

“Advertisers will spend more than $10 billion on the Internet by 2002 according to Forrester Research,” said Petersen, “and DoubleClick will be both a key driver and beneficiary of the exploding growth of Internet advertising.”

Volpe Brown Whelan & Company is an investment bank focused exclusively on technology and health care. Since 1992, it has managed or co-managed more than 220 public offerings, raising more than $11.9 billion and has advised clients on more than 70 merger and acquisition transactions with an aggregate value of more than $8 billion.