No Growing Pains For Lending Tree After Revenue Guidance: Analyst
LendingTree ( TREE ) is going to have no problem growing, says RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney, reacting after the company posted better-than-expected Q4 revenue and gave better-than-expected Q1 sales guidance. LendingTree, an online loan marketplace that lets consumers shop and compare different options from lenders, said early Thursday that revenue rose 78% from the year-earlier quarter to $78.3 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast $77.2 million. Earnings per share ex items of 65 cents, though, slightly missed Wall Street expectations of 66 cents. Still, LendingTree stock rose 22% Thursday on the report. Shares fell 2.3% Friday to 83.48. “We view LendingTree as a leading online consumer finance marketplace,” Mahaney wrote. “We are positive on shares, and it is our second top pick among small caps.” For Q1, the company forecast revenue of $85 million to $87 million, up 67% to 71% from the year-earlier quarter. Wall Street had modeled $77 million. LendingTree executives also upped their 2016 sales outlook to $370-$380 million, the midpoint up 48%. The company also said that it repurchased $40 million of its shares during Q4.