What happened
Shares of CoStar Group (CSGP +0.06%) tacked on 19% through the first six months of the year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, as the data-driven real estate business was able to bounce to back from the market crash and as the company delivered solid results.
The stock fell sharply in March but recovered strongly as the real estate industry quickly became active after the shutdowns.
So what
CoStar started off the year strong, riding bullish sentiment in the market, and the stock jumped in February after the company announced that it would acquire RentPath out of bankruptcy for $588 million in cash. RentPath owns real estate listing sites such as rent.com, apartmentguide.com, and rentals.com and had 21 million monthly visitors last year. The business will complement CoStar's existing listings business, which includes apartments.com. Wall Street cheered the move, sending the stock up 11%.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company posted better-than-expected results in its fourth-quarter earnings report at the end of February, with revenue up 17% and net income increased 32%. However, the stock fell as the broad market had started crashing over concerns about the coronavirus.
Costar rebounded from the pandemic successfully as interest in real estate rapidly recovered, and the stock popped at the end of April on its first-quarter report, as the company again topped estimates with revenue increasing 19% even as profits fell from costs related to COVID-19. The company held a secondary offering in May, taking advantage of the stock's high price, and also raised $1 billion in a debt offering in June.
Now what
CoStar's rebound mirrored that of other real estate stocks like Zillow and Redfin as Americans quickly returned to the real estate market after the shutdown orders ended, eager for suitable housing as needs changed. Given the tailwinds in the industry, CoStar's recent acquisition of Rentpath, and its strong growth , the company looks set to continue outperforming the broad market.
