Yelp kills it in Q2, shares jump 7%

Revenue beats estimates and guidance while Yelp's net loss shrinks

So Yelp killed it last quarter. Killed it. Shares jumped 7.3% in after-hours trading to $44.85 after the company announced its second quarter earnings, which included better than expected revenue and an ever-shrinking loss.

Yelp revealed Wednesday afternoon that it saw a net loss of $0.01 per share on revenue of $55 million in the second quarter of 2013. That’s compared to a loss of $0.03 per share on revenue of $32.7 million in Q2 2012. And that’s a significant leap over analysts’ expectations of $53.3 million and a loss of $0.04 per share.

In the first six months of 2013, Yelp generated $101.2 million in revenue, an increase of 68% from the same period last year when it generated $60 million.

Adjust EBITDA for Q2 2013 was $7.8 million, compared to $1.6 million in Q2 2012.

So where is Yelp on mobile these days? As it happens, Yelp’s mobile strategy is going swimmingly. Some 40% of local ads were shown on mobile devices along with 59% of searches. Last quarter, 36% of local ads were shown on mobile devices and the mobile app was used on some 10 million unique mobile devices on a monthly basis. And in Q2, Yelp launched a number of mobile upgrades, including the Nearby feature, which suggests local businesses and activities based on location, behavior, friends’ activities, and other data.

Average unique monthly visitors grew 38% year-over-year to 108 million, up from 102 million last quarter.

Some other interesting tidbits: a recent study by Nielsen found that when customers find a local business on Yelp, 89% make a purchase within a week. Earlier this month, the company launched Yelp Platform to allow customers to transact with businesses directly on Yelp. It also launched the Call to Action feature that allows advertisers to promote a desired transaction directly on their Yelp business listing.

Additionally, Yelp launched in six new markets, including two domestically and four internationally.

And in July, Yelp acquired the restaurant and nightlife reservation solution SeatMe.

"We are very pleased with our performance this quarter, with revenue growth accelerating to 69% year over year," said Yelp CFO Rob Krolik, in a statement. "This was driven by record results across all our key financial and operating metrics. We also saw considerable leverage in our business model with nearly a 400% increase in adjusted EBITDA as compared to last year."

Yelp is setting revenue guidance at $58-$59 million for the third quarter, with adjusted EBITDA of $7.5-8 million. Full year revenue is expected to be in the range of $222-$224 million, which would be an increase of 62% over 2012. Full year EBITDA is expected to be $27-$28 million. 

Image source: motomessage.com