What happened
ZipRecruiter (ZIP 0.67%) stock jumped on Thursday, rising 14% by 11 p.m. EST. The employee recruitment specialist trounced expectations for third-quarter sales growth while projecting a strong finish to the year.
So what
Revenue came in at $213 million for the selling period that ended in late September, the company said in its earnings update. That spike marked an over 100% increase, year over year, and sailed past management's prior forecast. CEO Ian Siegel and his team had predicted in mid-August that sales would instead land between $182 million and $188 million.
The outperformance meant ZipRecruiter maintained its triple-digit growth pace rather than seeing a slow down to gains of roughly 80%. "The third quarter of 2021 was another exceptionally strong quarter for ZipRecruiter," management said in a shareholder letter.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Executives are seeing plenty of room to continue helping connect job seekers with employers while profiting from that service. Sales in 2021 are now expected to reach between $725 million and $730 million, up from the prior (upgraded) guidance calling for revenue between $651 million and $665 million.
The earnings picture received an even bigger boost, with adjusted earnings now likely to approach $100 million rather than the $35 million that executives had predicted three months ago. "We reaffirm our conviction that we are still in the early stages of building a category-defining marketplace," management said.
The improving financial trends and strong growth together imply impressive momentum for the company heading into 2021, and Wall Street rushed to catch up to the brighter outlook by pushing the stock higher on Thursday.
