What happened
Shares of CoStar Group (CSGP -0.81%), the online marketplace for commercial real estate, were moving higher today after the listings platform posted better-than-expected results in its first-quarter earnings report.
At 11:03 a.m. ET, the stock was up 7%.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Overall revenue increased 13% to $516 million, beating estimates at $512.5 million. The company noted strength in Apartments.com, which saw a 36% sequential increase in sales, and net new bookings in the quarter jumped 31% year over year to $68 million.
Bottom-line performance was also strong as adjusted EBITDA increased 17% to $178 million and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) was up 15% to $0.31, topping expectations of $0.27.
CEO Andrew Florence said, "We are off to an outstanding start in 2022 with our best sales quarter ever," and added, "Our flagship product, CoStar, delivered three record sales quarters in a row and is growing 15% year over year. Both revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2022 were ahead of forecast, and we are raising our guidance for the year."
CoStar is also gaining traction in the residential real estate space, as it saw unique visitors to its residential real estate sites more than double to 14 million.
Now what
CoStar raised its full-year revenue guidance slightly from $2.145 billion-$2.165 billion to $2.15 billion-$2.17 billion, or 11% growth from a year ago. For the current quarter, it called for revenue of $529 million-$534 million, representing 11% growth at the midpoint and ahead of the consensus at $529.9 million.
On the bottom line, it now expects full-year EPS of $0.98-$1.03, up from a prior range of $0.95-$1.02. Overall, the results help buck fears of a crash in the real estate market, though CoStar stock is still priced at a premium, trading at a P/E above 60 based on this year's expected earnings.
