Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of CoStar Group, (CSGP +4.55%) jumped 10% Thursday after the commercial real estate specialist turned in solid second quarter results and raised its forward guidance.
So what: Quarterly revenue rose 36% year over year to $147.7 million, which translated to a 37% jump in adjusted net income to $23.5 million, or $0.80 per diluted share. Analysts, on average, were expecting adjusted earnings of just $0.70 per share on sales of $144.23 million.
In addition, CoStar Group increased the midpoint of its 2014 revenue guidance range by $3 million, and now expects full-year sales of $565 million-$571 million. Keeping in mind CoStar raised $529 million in net proceeds with a dilutive offering of 3.45 million new common shares last quarter, it now expects net income per diluted share in the range of $3.05-$3.10, or a decrease of roughly two and half cents per share from midpoint of last quarter's guidance. Adjusting for the impact of the new shares, however, the midpoint of the new range represents an increase of $0.17 per diluted share.
For perspective, analysts were looking for lower full-year earnings of $2.93 per share on sales of $567.5 million.
Now what: Fresh on the heels of completing its acquisition of Apartments.com last quarter, CoStar CEO Andrew Florance says they issued those new shares "to invest in the continued growth of the Company and to better position us for potential strategic acquisitions. It'll be interesting to see, then, what CoStar ends up doing with its new cash. Given CoStar's demonstrated ability to deliver on its growth promises, I think the stock should continue to reward patient investors from here.
