Thrown for a LoopNet

Forget about the ho-hum residential real estate market for a second. Motley Fool Rule Breakers pick LoopNet (Nasdaq: LOOP  ) is the newest hotspot in the commercial real estate world. The company chimed in with a solid fourth-quarter report yesterday.

Revenues soared 52% higher to $13.8 million for the period. Earnings per share dipped to $0.13 after a $0.31-per-share showing a year earlier, but the prior-year quarter's profit consisted mostly of a tax benefit. Boil fiscal performance down to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), and LoopNet's earnings increased 93% before accounting for stock-based compensation.

More importantly, analysts figured that the company would only be good for $0.09 a share in profits for the quarter. They're also aiming too low for 2007. Wall Street is perched at expectations of $0.41 a share this year, but LoopNet is now guiding investors to expect profits between $0.42 and $0.45 a share. The company sees top-line growth coming in 34% to 37% higher this year, too.

LoopNet's success may hinge on its business model. The site features more than 430,000 commercial real estate listings, and most of the company's 1.8 million registered users are free members. In fact, less than 5% of those are premium customers. That may not sound like an encouraging approach, given the listing fees generated on a site like eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY  ) , but this is the best way to make sure that your site is populated with properties that can be bought or leased.

The practical model won David Gardner over when he singled out the stock to Rule Breakers newsletter subscribers last year. The health of the commercial real estate market has only helped. When entities like Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO  ) and mall operator Simon (NYSE: SPG  ) are making beefy buyout bids for smaller operators, it's safe to say that the appetite for commercial real estate is voracious.

Some more loopy perspectives:

• Tom Taulli thinks that LoopNet is the best e-commerce stock for 2007.
• See how it fared a quarter earlier.
• The company went public back in June.

LoopNet is a Rule Breakers recommendation. To find out why David Gardner and his team of growth-focused Fools selected it, try Rule Breakers free for 30 days.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz feels that commercial real estate is better than residential properties in the Monopoly board game, too. Go hotels! He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. eBay is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter pick. The Fool has a disclosure policy.