What happened
Shares of Zillow Group Inc. (Z 1.00%) (ZG 1.15%) jumped 14% in the month of May, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after the online real estate platform company announced strong first-quarter 2017 results.
So what
More specifically, shares climbed more than 9% on May 5 alone, the first trading day after Zillow revealed that first-quarter 2017 revenue had climbed 32.2% year over year to $245.8 million -- well above Zillow's guidance for $232 million to $237 million. That translated to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $54.8 million, up from just $1.9 million in last year's first quarter and also above guidance for $36 million to $41 million. On the bottom line, Zillow generated adjusted net income of $21.9 million, or $0.11 per share, compared to an adjusted net loss of $22.8 million, or $0.13 per share in last year's first quarter.
IMAGE SOURCE: ZILLOW GROUP INC.
Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff called it a "tremendous start to 2017," noting that the company an all-time high of nearly 180 million unique users in the month of March.
Now what
Zillow also increased its forward guidance, calling for full-year 2017 revenue of $1.05 billion to $1.065 billion (compared to $1.03 billion to $1.05 billion before) and adjusted EBITDA of $215 million to $230 million (an increase from its old range of $190 million to $210 million).
And Zillow hasn't pumped the brakes since then, announcing the following week its addition of 16 new multiple listing service (MLS) partnerships across the country including MetroList, the largest MLS in Northern California.
Over the long term, as more users turn to online sources not only to answer their real estate-related questions but also to find homes, rentals, and mortgages, Zillow is arguably better positioned than any other company to take advantage of the trend. Even with shares up more than 40% over the past year as of this writing, I think Zillow Group stock still has plenty of room to rise from here.
