Yelp Shares Surge 6% As Q1 Loss Narrows, Raises 2014 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Shares of Yelp, Inc. (YELP) surged nearly six percent in extended trading on Wednesday after the consumer review website reported results for the first quarter that came in above analysts' expectations. The company reported a loss for the first quarter that narrowed from last year, reflecting strong double-digit revenue growth.

The company also provided revenue guidance for the second quarter, in line with Street view, and raised revenue forecast for the full-year 2014, citing the momentum seen in the business.

"We had a great start to the year and are excited about the large opportunity ahead of us. Yelp is becoming the gold standard in local search," CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a statement.

San Francisco-based Yelp reported a net loss of $2.64 million or $0.04 per share for the first quarter, narrower than $4.80 million or $0.08 per share in the prior-year quarter.

On average, 27 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.

Net revenue for the quarter surged 66 percent to $76.41 million from $46.13 million in the same quarter last year, and topped thirty-one Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $75.06 million.

Yelp said cumulative reviews for the quarter grew 46 percent year-over-year to about 57.0 million. Average monthly unique visitors grew 30 percent to about 132 million, and active local business accounts surged 65 percent from the year-ago quarter to about 74,000.

Yelp added that it had about 61 million of average monthly mobile unique visitors in the first quarter, including both mobile web and mobile app users, with 35 percent of new reviews being contributed through mobile devices.

During the quarter, the company announced its integration into Yahoo local search, building on the existing partnerships with Apple Maps and Bing. It also entered into an advertising partnership with YP.com which will enable the introduction of Yelp to an even broader pool of business owners.

Yelp noted that it continues to expand globally, with international reviews growing 210 percent and international traffic improving 95 percent from last year. Yelp has expanded its presence in Latin America and Asia, with the launch of Mexico and Japan. Yelp is now available in 26 countries on five continents.

Looking ahead, Yelp expects second-quarter revenues in a range of $85 million to $86 million, and raised its revenue guidance for the full-year 2014 to a range of $363 million to $367 million from its prior guidance range of $353 million to $358 million.

Street is currently looking for revenues of $85.44 million for the third quarter and $358.91 million for the full-year 2014.

"Looking to the rest of the year, we will continue to support and engage our community of Yelpers, expand geographically and create innovative products that close the loop with business owners," Stoppelman added.

YELP closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $58.32, down $0.60 or 1.02% on a volume of 13.78 million shares. However, the stock surged $3.33 or 5.71% in the after-hours trading.