Netscape stock falls with analyst report

A Merrill Lynch analyst issued a report today questioning Netscape'sfourth quarter earnings, sending the controversial Internet company'sstock down another 10%. It closed at $42.25. Netscape doesn't reportits fourth quarter results until January 28, but the company loggeda disproportionate amount of sales right at the end of quarter, suggesting they did so "to just make the quarter." The analyst also mentioned that such a push would result in risky 1997 salespossibilities.Merrill Lynch cites competition from Microsoft in the browser marketand competition from Lotus in the messaging and groupware market asthe reason they downgraded Netscape's rating to "hold.