Shares of Yelp, Inc. (YELP) gained more than 11 percent in extended trade Wednesday after the consumer review website's first-quarter loss narrowed from last year and revenue beat analysts' estimates. The company also forecast revenue for the second quarter above analysts' expectations and raised its full-year revenue outlook.
Cumulative reviews for the quarter grew 42 percent year-over-year to more than 39 million. Average monthly unique visitors grew 43 percent to about 102 million, while active local business accounts surged 63 percent from the year-ago period to about 45 thousand.
Yelp noted that in the latest quarter, 36 percent of local ads were shown on mobile devices. The mobile app was used on about 10 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis for the quarter. Additionally, Yelp launched display ads on mobile in the first quarter.
San Francisco-based Yelp's first-quarter net loss was $4.80 million or $0.08 per share, narrower than loss of $9.83 million or $0.31 per share in the year-ago period. On average, fourteen analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.06 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net revenue for the quarter grew 68 percent to $46.13 million from $27.39 million in the prior-year quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $44.57 million.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, Yelp forecasts revenues in a range of $52.5 million to $53.5 million, representing growth of about 62 percent compared to the year-ago period. Analysts have a consensus revenue estimate of $50.56 million.
For fiscal 2013, Yelp now forecasts revenue in a range of $216 million to $218 million, representing growth of about 58 percent compared to the previous year. Earlier, the company forecast revenues for the year of $210 million to $212 million. Analysts currently expect revenues of $211.81 million for the year.
YELP closed Wednesday's trading at $25.30, down $0.73 or 2.80 percent on a volume of 1.38 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $2.95 or 11.66 percent to $28.25.
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