Social media catapults WebMediaBrands

There was a certain irony in Alan Meckler tweeting this month: “At Yankee Stadium for Paul McCartney concert. 10^th row. Center field.”

Just like McCartney, Meckler just keeps on getting back.

Yesterday, Meckler was a vocal proponent at the dawn of the Internet age, leading one of the first initial public offerings of stock (in 1994) for a company focused on the then-still emerging web ”“ a company that would go on to create the online Internet.com news site that tracked the industry in Silicon Valley, New York City and Boston, among other clusters.

Fast forward to last year, when he was 64 ”“ in a sense Meckler was starting all over, selling off the Internet.com brand for $18 million and refocusing the new WebMediaBrands on social media sites and apps for mobile devices.

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Today, you won”™t hear Meckler complaining about people giving him their money: in the first half of 2011, shares of WebMediaBrands jetted up by half, outpacing every other company based in Fairfield County that is not a penny stock (Of course, it was not so long ago that penny lane was in the ears and eyes of Meckler ”“ entering this year, the stock hovered around 75 cents a share).

By contrast, FuelCell Energy Inc. is down ”“ really down. The Danbury-based company”™s shares plunged more than 40 percent in the first half despite a mammoth new contract from a South Korea company, due to failed sealants in earlier fuel cells that required repairs.

Of nearly 60 local stocks tracked by the Fairfield County Business Journal in the first half, about 60 percent of them posted gains, most of those in the double digits. By contrast, less than 10 local companies suffered double-digit declines, a few of them powerhouses in their industries such as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Frontier Communications Corp., both based in Stamford.

Other notable movers in the first half included:

• Norwalk-based Priceline.com Inc., whose shares gained more than a quarter to top the $500 mark;
• Gartner Inc., among the larger employers in Stamford, which posted a 21 percent gain to close June above $40; and
• United Technologies Corp., which gained 17 percent despite a slowdown in military orders at its Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. division in Stratford, which employs more than 9,000 people.

General Electric Co., which likewise has thousands of workers and retirees in Fairfield County where it is based, managed a 5 percent increase to just over $18 a share.

George Whitehead, a partner in the Greenwich office of BDO Seidman, said most analysts expect the market to continue an upward trend in the second half, although that track could be derailed by any multitude of macroeconomic jolts.

“We are a little bit concerned about some of the things going on in the marketplace ”“ the threat of spending cuts and potential tax increases that might cause some of this activity to be ”¦ muted,” Whitehead said. “There are still constraints on the bank lending environment, although we are beginning to see that improve a little bit.”

For its part, WebMediaBrands appears to be seeing if it can buy a little love with its surging stock ”“ or perhaps more accurately, sell a little. In May, it raised $6.5 million via a sale of equity to two investors.

It is not the only one. At deadline, two companies in southwest Connecticut were readying for IPOS of stock: Tangoe Inc., an Orange-based maker of networking equipment, and Chef”™s Warehouse Inc., a Ridgefield-based distributor of foodstuffs to stores and restaurants throughout the tristate area and several other markets.