Analyst price-target raises for Etsy (ETSY 3.31%) were coming thick and fast on Thursday. This followed the hobby-pinning company's release of its second-quarter results on Wednesday after market close.
For the quarter, revenue rose a white-hot 137% on a year-over-year basis to $428.7 million, on gross merchandise sales (GMS) that improved 146% to $2.69 billion. Net profit rose even more steeply, improving more than fivefold to $96.4 million, or $0.75 per share.
Etsy's offices in Hudson. New York. Image source: Etsy.
Those results far outdistanced analyst expectations. Prognosticators following the stock were collectively modeling just under $330 million on the top line, and $0.39 per share for net profit.
The coronavirus has helped the businesses of certain online operators, and Etsy falls squarely into this category. Its niche in homemade goods was also a plus, as it (again) enjoyed a particularly brisk business in the sale of face masks. All told, a staggering $346 million worth of these goods alone were sold during the quarter.
It wasn't only masks, however. The company's marketplace revenue, source of the bulk of its overall take, rose by 146% to just over $332 million, fueled by a 125% increase in GMS. Etsy attributed this to its success in "attracting new buyers and engaging our existing customers more than ever before."
Despite the very convincing top- and bottom-line beats and the three-figure growth rates, investors traded Etsy shares down on Thursday. They closed 3.6% lower on the day, in contrast to the gains enjoyed by numerous consumer goods peers and the broader stock market.
