Why GrubHub Is Thursday’s Biggest Earnings Winner and More

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 3:36AM EST · Published Feb 8, 12:05PM EST

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Why GrubHub Is Thursday’s Biggest Earnings Winner and More — © Thinkstock

GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) reported its most recent quarterly results before the markets opened on Thursday. The food delivery giant posted $0.37 in earnings per share (EPS) on $205.1 million in revenue, which compares with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.31 in EPS on revenue of $201.74 million. The fourth quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.23 and $137.46 million in revenue.

During the quarter, active diners increased 77% year over year to 14.5 million, from 8.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.

In the same time, so-called daily average grubs were 392,500, a 34% increase from 292,500 last year. Gross food sales totaled $1.1 billion, a 39% year over year increase.

One major development was that GrubHub announced that it has partnered with Yum Brands to drive online sales in Yum’s U.S. restaurants. Under the terms of the deal, Yum will buy $200 million of Grubhub stock to provide the firm with the funds needed to expand its delivery network. Also Artie Starrs, U.S. president of Pizza Hut, will join GrubHub’s board of directors. Keep in mind that GrubHub only has a market cap of roughly $8 billion.

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Looking ahead to the coming quarter, GrubHub expects to see revenues in the range of $224 million to $232 million and adjusted EBITDA between $54 million and $60 million. The consensus estimates call for $0.39 in EPS and $227.54 million in revenue for the first quarter.

Matt Maloney, Grubhub CEO, commented:

Over the past two years we have taken incredible strides in expanding the breadth and depth of our restaurant network, growing the number of local restaurants we work with from 40,000 to over 80,000 today. The partnership with Yum! which we announced this morning will accelerate the expansion of our delivery network and amplify our diner acquisition efforts, raising consumer awareness of online ordering and driving more volume for all restaurants across our platform.

Shares of GrubHub were last seen up about 30% at $91.24, with a consensus analyst price target of $70.04 and a 52-week range of $32.43 to $94.89.

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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.