“The handsome stock market gains posted so far this year by eBay, Yahoo!, Amazon.com and other Internet companies have sparked a debate over whether the surge heralds a dot-com comeback or another investment bubble.
Optimists say Internet stocks are being embraced again because the once-forlorn sector is producing impressive sales growth in an otherwise lackluster economy.
Online auctioneer eBay, for instance, began this year with first-quarter revenue of $476.5 million — a 94 percent increase from last year. Excluding gains from acquisitions made during the last year, eBay’s revenue still rose by 56 percent.
At the end of April, eBay’s shares stood at $92.91 — a 37 percent gain since the end of 2002. Investor enthusiasm has helped lift eBay’s market value to $29.8 billion as of April 30 — more than many far larger corporate giants, including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.” [CNN Tech]