Zillow Slips To Loss In Q2, But Results Beat View; Lifts Revenue Outlook

(RTTNews) - Real-estate information website Zillow Inc. (Z) on Tuesday reported a loss for the second quarter as higher costs and expenses offset strong revenue growth. However, revenue and adjusted earnings per share beat analysts' estimates.

Looking ahead, Zillow forecast third-quarter revenue above analysts' estimates and also raised its revenue outlook for fiscal 2013. But the company's shares declined almost 9 percent in extended trades.

The Seattle, Washington-based company's second-quarter net loss was $10.23 million or $0.30 per share, compared to net income of $1.33 million or $0.04 per share in the prior-year quarter.

The latest quarter's results reflect a non-recurring acceleration of share-based compensation expense of $7.1 million relating to a prior acquisition and a previously announced increase in marketing and advertising expense.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $235 thousand or $0.01 per share. On average, nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.11 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the quarter grew 69 percent to $46.92 million from $27.77 million in the comparable quarter last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $44.42 million for the quarter.

Marketplace revenue for the quarter soared 86 percent from the previous-year quarter to $36.45 million and accounted for 78 percent of total revenue for the quarter.

Total costs and expenses more than doubled to $57.27 million from $26.47 million in the same period last year.

Zillow's traffic topped a record 61 million monthly unique users on mobile and Web in July 2013, up 66 percent year-over-year. Average monthly unique users during the quarter were a record 54.32 million, up 62 percent year-over-year.

Premier Agent subscriber count grew 71 percent, adding 4,777 quarterly subscribers and totalled 38,807 at the end of the quarter.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Zillow projects revenue in a range of $49.5 million to $50.5 million, representing 57 percent year-over-year growth at the midpoint of the range. Analysts expect the company to report revenues of $48.59 million for the quarter.

For fiscal 2013, Zillow now forecasts revenue in a range of $186 million to $188 million, up from the prior range of $178 million to $182 million. Street expects the company to report revenues of $183.31 million for the year.

Z closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $90.71, up $0.66 or 0.73 percent on a volume of 1.72 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock declined $7.86 or 8.66 percent to $82.85.