Zillow (ZG -0.69%) kicked off fiscal 2014 on a high note today after reporting better-than-expected earnings results for its first quarter. For the period ended March 31, Zillow generated non-generally accepted accounting principles earnings of $0.02 per share. That topped analyst estimates for a quarterly loss of $0.08 per share in the period. Zillow's revenue surged 70% to a record $66.2 million, up from just $39 million in the year-ago period. For comparison, Wall Street was looking for revenue of $63.2 million.
Zillow said a 51% spike in traffic to its site drove the record results in the quarter -- traffic hit a new high of 70.7 million monthly unique users during the period. Additionally, the company said that mobile usage more than doubled year over year, as more consumers accessed Zillow's products and services through mobile devices. Zillow added 4,654 new Premier Agent subscribers in the period, up 56% year over year. Meanwhile, average monthly revenue per subscriber was a record $286 in the first quarter.
"We're continuing to ramp our marketing investment, and plan to be firing on all cylinders through the busy spring and summer home shopping season, which also helps increase value and opportunity for our agent and broker partners," said Spencer Rascoff Zillow's chief executive. Shares of Zillow are up nearly 26% year to date.
