What's happening: Shares of HomeAway (AWAY.DL) jumped on Wednesday after the company reported its second-quarter results. Revenue came in at $125.8 million, about $2 million higher than analyst estimates, and 10.1% higher compared to the same period last year. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.12, in line with analyst estimates and $0.03 lower year over year. At 1:40 p.m. the stock was up about 7.5% after having climbed nearly 12% earlier in the day.
Why it's happening: Following an earnings miss in April that sent shares of HomeAway tumbling, expectations were likely low going into the company's second-quarter earnings report. HomeAway's results were only slightly above analyst expectations, but simply meeting those expectations was enough to send the stock higher.
Revenue growth was negatively affected by currency issues, a particularly thorny problem for HomeAway because it offers rentals in more than 190 countries. Adjusting for currency, revenue would have risen by 19.2% year over year, nearly twice the reported revenue growth rate.
The number of paid listings rose to 1.185 million during the second quarter, up 13.9% year over year. Revenue per subscription listing also increased, up 15% year over year adjusting for currency. The number of online bookable listings rose by 96% year over year to 594,000 amid a push by the company to make its entire inventory of rentals bookable online.
HomeAway did suffer from a decline in profitability, both on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. A big jump in sales and marketing spending, which rose by 35% year over year, dragged down GAAP operating profit by nearly 90% compared to the second quarter of 2014. Despite this, HomeAway managed to grow its trailing-12-month free cash flow by 7.1% to $122.3 million.
HomeAway's guidance was in-line with analyst expectations. The company expects third-quarter revenue between $128 million and $131 million, a 9%-12% year-over-year growth rate, and a constant-currency growth rate of 18%-21%. Overall, HomeAway reported a solid quarter, and its slightly better-than-expected results and in-line guidance were enough to send the stock up.
