Yelp Revenue Tops Analysts’ Estimates as CFO Steps Down

Yelp Inc. (YELP) on Monday posted a loss for the fourth quarter compared to a profit a year ago, as higher revenues were offset by increase in operating costs.

The company said it expected to report net revenue of $154 million to $157 million in the first quarter, largely above the $154.4 million estimated by analysts. Yelp is trading at 59 times its expected future earnings.

The company told CNBC the results were leaked due to an error by PR Newswire.

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The results came as Yelp shares were selling off Monday, down more than 13% at its low ahead of the release. “The bad news is that Yelp’s structural problems are not fixed”.

Founded in 2004, Yelp went public in 2012.

Separately, Yelp has a “hold” rating and a letter grade of C- at TheStreet Ratings because of the company’s strengths, such as robust revenue growth, solid financial position and expanding profit margins, and its weaknesses, including generally disappointing stock performance, unimpressive net income growth and weak operating cash flow. Twitter’s media head, Katie Jacobs Stanton, and Google Search SVP Amit Singhal-who is retiring later this month-both cited spending time with family as a reason for leaving their jobs. Simplex Trading owned about 0.06% of Yelp worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Excluding one-time items, Yelp earned 11 cents a share, while anlaysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast the company to lose 3 cents a share, on $152.3 million in revenue.

“The guidance was a little light for first quarter and FY 2016 EBITDA and that seems to be an issue for investors”, said Needham & Company analyst Kerry Rice.

Costs, meanwhile, surged 57% to $160.1 million. Consumer adoption of the Yelp app remained strong, with the number of unique devices opening the app reaching almost 20 million across the quarter as a whole, up 42% from the year earlier.