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Whether you're walking a tightrope or scribbling in your checkbook, balance is a good thing. And, one of the best ways to evaluate a company is to glance at its balance sheet to see what it owns with what it owes.
The balance sheet is a paragon of simplicity and is made up of three components: assets (the stuff it owns), liabilities (the money it owes), and shareholders' equity (the company's value to its shareholders).
Assets take two forms: short-term (or current) assets and long-term assets. Under short-term, there¿s good ol' hard cash. Then, there¿s something called "cash equivalents," which are assets like short-term bonds that can be sold so quickly, they might as well be cash. There you factor in inventory, which (if you're a reasonably competent business owner) you can sell to customers in return for--you guessed it--cash. (The raw materials a company owns to make that inventory also falls under this category.)
Long-term assets are things that are harder to convert into cash. (Think real estate and equipment.) Long-term assets depreciate, meaning they lose some value over time. Also under the long-term category are what's called intangible assets: things like patents and brands, that are important, but hard to quantify. Accountants earn their stripes figuring out the real overall value of these assets.
Once you know your assets, it's time for liabilities. As with assets, liabilities are separated into short-term or current, and long-term. Current liabilities are what a company owes in that year: Things like payments to employees or accounts payable to suppliers. Long-term liabilities are debts paid over several years.
Shareholders' equity is determined by subtracting the liabilities from the assets. That number represents the value of the company after all its bills are paid.
Obviously, investors should pay close attention to balance sheets. Spikes in the amount of debt carried, or a reduction in shareholders' equity, are usually red flags.
Home / Markets / Industries / Technology
Friday, June 27, 2008
SmacChat.com Scores with Internap for Sports-Oriented Social Network Online
Comtex
ATLANTA, Jun 27, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Internap Network Services Corporation (NASDAQ:INAP), a global provider of end-to-end Internet business solutions, announced today it is working with SmacChat.com to provide spirited sports fans a forum for communicating about their favorite teams. Internap's incomparable Content Delivery Network (CDN) is being leveraged by SmacChat.com to build an expansive online venue for its users that will be able to scale as memberships increase.
SmacChat.com, a Web-based social networking platform, is built for sports enthusiasts looking to rally for the next big game, rant about their team's latest wins or losses, or 'trash-talk' with followers of opposing teams. The free site features live, interactive chat rooms for every major athletic event nationwide. Sports blogs also allow for real-time discussions on the hottest games, and live scores and betting lines keep every fan up to speed on their team's progress. Prior to the launch of the site, fans relied on sources such as sports talk radio shows to share their opinions on recent or upcoming games. SmacChat.com now provides a real-time venue for more than 112,000 visitors to the site each day. In addition, this rate nearly triples during major sporting events, such as the Bowl Championship Series, which is where Internap's sophisticated technology comes into play. Internap effectively routes traffic to the site and improves uptime, regardless of spontaneous spikes in traffic to SmacChat.com.
"Technology is a completely different language to a sports aficionado like me and it's great to have Internap's support behind the scenes to help us accomplish things we couldn't do before," said Brian Moncure, founder of SmacChat.com. "As a result of Internap's comprehensive CDN solutions and know-how, SmacChat.com can continue to grow its community and provide additional features members want."
Internap's CDN enables SmacChat.com to stream online video, such as highlights and clips of different games. In addition, the CDN integrates ad services as well, providing an additional source of revenue for the site. Internap's CDN is unique in the industry in that it is based on patented route optimization networking technology and Internap's global infrastructure of Private Network Access Points (PNAPs). In addition, Internap's 100% Service Level Agreement (SLA) for its CDN services guarantees rich media content delivery at the highest quality, reliability and network performance.
"Our CDN solutions enable Web-based companies to focus on building their businesses and increasing their bottom lines, without worrying about spikes in traffic or network downtime," said Tim Sullivan, chief technology officer for Internap. "We enthusiastically support SmacChat.com as they build their community of sports fans, engage that community with compelling and interactive content and support their business through ad-supported revenue streams."
About Internap
Internap is a leading Internet solutions company that provides The Ultimate Online Experience(TM) by managing, delivering and distributing applications and content with unsurpassed performance and reliability. With a global platform of data centers, managed Internet services, a content delivery network (CDN) and content monetization services, Internap frees its customers to innovate their business and create new revenue opportunities. More than 3,700 companies across the globe trust Internap to help them achieve their Internet business goals. For more information, visit www.internap.com.
Internap "Safe Harbor" Statement
Certain information included in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including, among others, statements regarding the performance of our products, business strategy, projected levels of growth and projected costs, are forward-looking statements. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Internap and members of our management team, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking statements. Other important factors that may affect Internap's business, products, results of operations and financial condition include, but are not limited to: our ability to sustain profitability; our ability to respond successfully to technological change; the availability of services from Internet network service providers or network service providers providing network access loops and local loops on favorable terms, or at all; failure of third party suppliers to deliver their products and services on favorable terms, or at all; failures in our network operations centers, network access points or computer systems; and our ability to protect our intellectual property.
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks, as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason.
SOURCE: Internap Network Services Corporation
Internap press contacts: Katie Eakins / Wanda Soler, 619-677-2700 internap@lewispr.com or Internap investor contact: Andrew McBath, 404-865-7198 amcbath@internap.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
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