Yelp makes a better second impression in Q2, with $32.7M in revenue

Business reviews site Yelp has today made a stronger second impression on Wall Street with its Q2 2012 statement, its second earnings report as a public company. The company handily beat expectations by posting $32.7 million in revenue and a smaller-than-expected loss of $2 million, or $0.03 per share, for the quarter.

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In Q2, Yelp’s first full quarter since listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the company grew revenue 67 percent year-over-year. Wall Street was anticipating revenue of $30.53 million and a loss of $0.06 per share.

Yelp grew monthly unique visitors to 78 million in the quarter, showing 52 percent year-over-year growth. The company also increased its massive reviews repository to 30 million, up 54 percent from the same quarter last year. Yelp mobile apps, meanwhile, were used on roughly 7.2 million unique mobile devices, the company said in its earnings release.

“Yelp’s second quarter performance highlights the underlying power of our model,” CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a statement. “By focusing almost singularly on cultivating rich, authentic local content, we have created a unique platform that is rapidly becoming the de facto local search engine for connecting consumers with great local businesses.”

Stoppelman, in a call with investors and analysts, indicated that Yelp is only partially monetizing its mobile offerings through ads displayed on its mobile website. He said that click-through rates are higher on mobile and mentioned that adding advertisements to Yelp’s mobile apps is a high priority for the company.

Yelp went public on March 2 and received a very warm welcome from investors, despite only bringing in $83 million in revenue for all of 2011 and posting a $16.86 million loss for the year.

The stock has fluctuated between $14 and $31 on the market since its debut. Shares were temporarily buoyed by news that Apple would include Yelp checkins in its iOS 6 maps application. Analysts, however, have maintained a “hold” recommendation for Yelp’s shares for most of its tenure as a public company.

In the first quarter of 2012, Yelp made $27.4 million in revenue but posted a net loss of $9.8 million.

Yelp shares closed down nearly 6 percent Wednesday but are trading up significantly in after-hours trading.

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Photo credit: Yelp/Flickr