AtHome Sets 2-For-1 Stock Split

Shares of AtHome rose 9.3 percent after the Internet media company said it plans to split its stock 2-for-1.

Redwood City, Calif.-based AtHome (ATHM) uses cable TV systems to provide high-speed Internet and other online services to consumers and businesses.

Shares rose 10 to 117 1/8 in recent trading.

The split requires stockholder approval of an increase in the company's authorized number of shares at its 1999 annual meeting, according to an AtHome statement. The shareholder meeting is likely to take place within three months, said company spokesman Matt Wolfrom.

Wolfrom declined to elaborate on any other matters or say why the company decided to split its stock.

Separately, AtHome said it plans to triple to 1 million (from 333,000) the number of subscribers to its high-speed Internet access by the end of the year, Ken Goldman, the company's chief financial officer, said at the Hambrecht & Quist Wall.Street.Com conference Tuesday.

It took AOL (AOL) nine years to hit the million-user milestone, Goldman noted. AtHome plans to offer its expanded service to San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and other cities this year.

On Monday, AtHome Chief Executive Tom Jermoluk told investors at the Jupiter Online Consumer Forum that consumers will begin spending more time on the Internet at home instead of the office as cable TV firms start offering broadband Internet access. See related story.

AtHome uses network technology capable of delivering data about a hundred times faster than telephone modems. The company's planned purchase of Excite (XCIT), the second-largest Internet directory, is likely to introduce the AtHome name to a significant number of users.

AtHome's investors include U.S. cable operators Cablevision, Comcast, Cox and TCI, which is being acquired by AT&T.

Written By Stephanie O'Brien, CBS MarketWatch