Inktomi Beats Street Estimates

Inktomi Corp., named after a folklore spider, reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss and said its sales grew 343 percent.

The software developer (INKT) posted a loss of $6.4 million, or 24 cents a share, handily beating First Call's consensus estimate of a 30-cent loss.

A year ago, the company reported a loss of $4.3 million, or 25 cents.

Inktomi said first-quarter revenue increased to $10.7 million from $2.4 million last year.

Some factors fueling the company's performance include adding some leading Internet companies to its customer base, expanding distribution worldwide, and building key relationships.

During the quarter, the Inktomi search engine began servicing queries for Internet media sites such as America Online (AOL), GeoCities (GCTY) and the Microsoft Network (MSFT).

Inktomi said its search engine processed about 1.8 billion queries during the quarter, an increase of 33 percent over the prior quarter.

"We look forward to building on this base in the next quarter as we solidify our position as the company that is focused on 'scaling the Internet," said David Peterschmidt, Inktomi's CEO.

Inktomi reported that during the quarter it teamed up with Centraal, creators of the RealNames web page addressing systems. The agreement enables customers to find companies and brand names on the Internet.

In addition, the company expanded the worldwide reach of its traffic server network cache.

Based in San Mateo, Calif., Inktomi develops and markets software designed for Internet and media companies.

Written By Cecily Fraser