How High Analysts Are Chasing Yelp

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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How High Analysts Are Chasing Yelp

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Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) reported its first-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday. Despite the company posting a loss for the quarter, it was not as bad as analysts initially estimated and this thrilled investors. As a result, analysts raised their price targets for Yelp.

24/7 Wall St. has included some highlights from the earnings report, as well as what analysts are saying about Yelp after the report.

The company said it had a net loss of $0.08 per share on $158.6 million in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates of a net loss of $0.15 per share on $155.6 million in revenue.

In the first quarter, Local revenue totaled $138.1 million, an increase of 40% from the same period in the previous year. Apart from this, Transactions revenue totaled $14.5 million, versus $6.6 million last year, primarily due to the Eat24 acquisition.
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Also during this quarter, an average of 21 million unique devices accessed Yelp through its mobile app on a monthly basis, noting an increase of 32% compared to the same period in 2015.

In terms of the outlook, the company expects net revenues to be in the range of $167 million to $171 million for the second quarter, while adjusted EBITDA is expected in the range of $21 million to $25 million. Consensus estimates call for a net loss of $0.08 per share on $167.69 million in revenue.

On the books, cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities totaled $375.5 million at the end of the quarter compared to $370.8 million at the end of 2015.

A few analysts weighed in on Yelp after earnings were report:

  • Baird has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $25 from $19.
  • Cowen has a Market Perform rating and raised its price target price to $25 from $21.
  • Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $46 from $44.
  • Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $26 from $20.
  • Jefferies has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $28 from $20.
  • Mizuho has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $24 from $20.
  • MKM Partners has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $24 from $19.
  • Piper Jaffray has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $22 from $19.
  • RBC has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $36 from $33.
  • Susquehanna has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $22 from $16.

Shares of Yelp closed up over 23% at $26.50 on Friday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $22.78 and a 52-week trading range of $14.53 to $50.99.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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