Submitted by Mark Hanna
Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
Yelp (YELP) is one of the more recent IPOs in the “social media” area (loosely), and reported its first public quarter this afternoon. A small bucket (3) of analysts had expectations of $25.3M and a 30 cent loss. The company came in at $27.4M and a 31 cent loss. At this stage of the company life cycle revenue would be something more important than earnings and the 66% year over year growth is impressive – albeit off a small base. Guidance for the full year of $128-$132M is above $124.3M estimate. The stock is zig zagging in after hours but seems to be up somewhat in the mid $23s. Full report here.
- Revenue was $27.4 million in the first quarter of 2012, reflecting 66% growth in revenue from the first quarter 2011
- Cumulative reviews grew 59% to 27.6 million
- Average monthly unique visitors grew 53% to 71.4 million*
- Active local business accounts grew 117% to 27,300
Net loss in the first quarter of 2012 was $(9.8) million or $(0.31) per share, compared to a net loss of $(2.8) million, or $(0.19) per share, in the first quarter of 2011. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2012 was a loss of approximately $1 million, compared to a loss of $880,000 for the first quarter of 2011.
Business Highlights
- New market expansion: Yelp launched 11 new markets in the first quarter, including Antwerp, Brussels, Oklahoma City, Perth and Hampton Beach, increasing the total active markets worldwide to 82.
- Yelp Mobile: Our mobile apps were used on approximately 6.3 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis for the quarter. Our development team released a total of nine updates for Yelp’s iPhone and Android apps in the first quarter. Enhancements to the user experience included new features such as the release of photo feedback, new search filters (filter by what’s hot/new and by businesses with deals) and the ability to view business owner replies.
- Distribution partnerships: Mercedes and Lexus integrated Yelp into their in-vehicle infotainment systems. Combined with Yelp’s BMW partnership announced in December, these relationships underscore the value that Yelp content provides to consumers on the go. OEMs are now working quickly to ensure that Yelp reviews are within reach from the dashboard.
- Yelp for Business Owners: Yelp introduced a new set of dashboard metrics to make Yelp’s business owner accounts even more insightful. The most notable improvement is the integration of mobile metrics which enables a business owner to track how many people placed a call to a business, mapped directions, purchased a Yelp Deal and/or uploaded photos.
- Yelp Deals: Yelp Deals continues to grow. More than 25,000 businesses offered deals to their local community in the first quarter.
Business Outlook
As of today, Yelp is initiating guidance for its second quarter of 2012 and full year 2012 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance.
- For the second quarter of 2012, revenue is expected to be in the range of $29 million to $31 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be a loss in the range of $(500,000) to $(800,000).
- For the full year of 2012, revenue is expected to be in the range of $128 to $132 million, representing growth of 54% to 58% compared to the full year of 2011. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be breakeven to slightly positive.
