Amazon.Com Shares Fall Below Ipo Price

Amazon.com Inc.’s shares fell below the initial public offering price in less than a week as investor interest waned in the Internet bookseller.

The shares fell $2.50 to $17.12-1/2, less than the $18 that Amazon.com fetched in the IPO. Since the stock started trading May 15 - touching a high of $30 the first day - it has closed lower each successive day.

Amazon.com’s stock got a smaller bounce the first day than earlier hot stocks on the information superhighway, closing up 31 percent. The shares of Yahoo! Inc., for one, rose 154 percent in its first day last April, while Netscape Communications Corp. rose 108 percent.

“You didn’t have the kind of follow-through that you had with other IPOs,” said Michael Bruce, managing director of American Asset Management. “The initial enthusiasm was muted by the fact that this has been a somewhat unsuccessful trip.”