Bazaarvoice Q3 Results To Estimates. But Shares Plunge 14%

(RTTNews) - Social commerce solutions provider Bazaarvoice, Inc (BV) reported a net loss for the third quarter that narrowed from last year, reflecting lower expenses and double-digit revenue growth. Results also topped analysts expectations.

"Our third quarter financial results reflect continued progress for Bazaarvoice. We delivered revenue growth of 14% year over year and generated positive Adjusted EBITDA for the first time as a public company," President and CEO Gene Austin said in a statement.

Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice posted a net loss to stockholders of $4.12 million or $0.05 per share for the third quarter, narrower than $8 million or $0.10 per share in the prior-year quarter, which included $0.01 per share of gain from discontinued operations.

Excluding items, adjusted loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $0.14 million or breakeven per share, compared to a loss of $4.86 million or $0.15 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.06 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter rose 14 percent to $49.56 million from $43.60 million in the same quarter last year, and topped six Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $49.34 by a whisker.

Revenues consisted of SaaS revenue of $46.4 million and net media revenue of $3.1 million.

Operating expenses for the quarter declined to $34.5 million from $37.8 million a year ago.

The company's number of active clients at the end of the third quarter was 1,315, up 30 percent from last year, with annualized SaaS revenue per average active client of about $144,000.

"We have embarked on a number of new initiatives around product innovation and stronger client retention to fuel long term revenue growth while at the same time drive the business towards profitability," Austin added.

BV closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $9.08, down $0.11 or 1.20% on a volume of 0.38 million shares. The stock plunged a further $1.26 or 13.88% in after-hours trading.