Zillow Stock Jumps On Revenue Outlook, Litigation Costs Rise

By | May 4, 2016

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Zillow ( Z ) stock jumped after the online real estate portal reported first-quarter revenue that topped views and raised its full-year, 2016 sales forecast. The Internet company posted a loss of 13 cents a share, excluding items, compared with earnings of 2 cents a share a year earlier. Zillow stock, which has been highly shorted, jumped nearly 13% in premarket trading in the stock market today . The online real estate data provider said quarterly revenue rose 14% from a year earlier to $186 million vs. consensus estimates of  $177 million. Seattle-based Zillow forecast second-quarter revenue in a range of $203 million to 208 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had modeled $193 million. Zillow upped full-year 2016 revenue guidance to $830 million at its midpoint, from its earlier forecast of $810 million vs. consensus of $806 million. “ Zillow has meaningful opportunities for upside to both estimates and multiple as it better monetizes the massive, high value audience that it has built around its platform,” said Heath Terry, a Goldman Sachs analyst in a report. “Aggregated unique visitors across Zillow properties reached 156 million in Q1 vs. 124 million in Q4.” Zillow said it expects litigation expenses to reach $50 million to $55 million for the full year, compared with prior expectations of $36 million. It’s involved in litigation with News Corp. ( NWS ) and the National Association of Realtors. “Zillow appears to have pricing power. We have lingering concerns about this name, including valuation, the ultimate total addressable market, and potential fallout from litigation,” said Thomas Champion, an analyst at Cowen & Co. “However, Zillow appears to have re-established a cadence of beat-and-raise results while hitting the seasonally strong period of the year.” Zillow has an IBD Composite Rating of 65 out of a possible 99. IBD’s Internet-Content group is ranked No. 59 out of 197 industry groups. Scalper1 News

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