What happened
Shares of Etsy (ETSY 1.61%) soared 14.3% on Thursday after the e-commerce website announced strong fourth-quarter 2019 results.
So what
To be sure, Etsy's quarterly revenue climbed 35% year over year to $270 million, translating to net income of $31.3 million, or $0.25 per share. Though we don't normally pay close attention to Wall Street's demands, most analysts were only expecting earnings of $0.16 per share on slightly lower revenue.
Image source: Getty Images.
CEO Josh Silverman reminded investors that the company laid out a multiyear growth strategy early last year. "We're off to a great start with our 2019 performance, by staying focused on the fewest things that can make the greatest impact for buyers and sellers," Silverman said, "including new initiatives that will further our competitive advantages and meaningfully contribute to future results."
Now what
For the full year of 2020, Etsy told investors to expect revenue of $1.04 billion to $1.6 billion, good for year-over-year growth of 27% to 30%. Here again, even the low end of that range was well above most analysts' models for revenue of $1.02 billion this year.
Coupled with Etsy's exceptional end to 2019 (and even with shares up around 25% from their December lows leading into this report), it seems the market had little choice but to bid up this budding tech stock in response.
