What happened
Shares of Opera Limited (OPRA 3.78%) are up 18% so far this week as of Thursday's market close, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock appears to be rebounding along with the broader market after the internet browser provider fell hard last week despite posting strong second-quarter results.
NASDAQ: OPRA
Key Data Points
So what
For perspective, Opera stock fell 15% in a single session last Thursday even after the company posted quarterly results that handily exceeded expectations.
Quarterly revenue grew 21% year over year to $94.1 million -- above analysts' consensus estimates for revenue of $91.7 million -- while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) climbed 24% to $20.5 million. Both figures were also well above Opera's own guidance, which had called for revenue of $92 million to $94 million and adjusted EBITDA of between $18 million and $20 million.
That said, Opera did issue third-quarter guidance for revenue of $97 million to $100 million, up 15% at the midpoint. Most analysts were modeling third-quarter growth near the high end of that range.
But Opera also raised its outlook for the full year of 2023, calling for revenue of $380 million to $390 million (a $7 million increase from the bottom end of its old range), and adjusted EBITDA between $80 million and $84 million (up from $77 million to $83 million before).
Now what
To be clear, there was no single company-specific catalyst that changed the direction of Opera stock these past several days. Rather, it's telling to me that Opera's rebound has largely mirrored (on an exaggerated basis) those of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index, which have climbed 3% and 4.2%, respectively, over the past week.
Given the company's beat-and-raise performance and its history of underpromising and overdelivering, perhaps Opera shareholders realized that the lone red mark in its latest quarterly report -- specifically its slightly weaker-than-expected revenue outlook for the third quarter -- shouldn't be a significant cause for concern.
