By Kim Khan
Investing.com – Investors were writing off Stamps.com (NASDAQ:STMP) after it ended its exclusive partnership with the U.S. Postal Service last year. Now they’re diving back in as the company's plan of working with other shipping providers is showing big results.
Shares soared 60% in afternoon trading Thursday.
Stamps.com reported earnings after the bell yesterday, posting a profit of $2.12 per share, more than double the $1.03 per share analysts polled by Investing.com predicted.
Revenue came in at $160.9 million, topping the consensus forecast of $144.68 million.
Stamps.com cited strength in its global initiatives and said paid customers reached 750,000 in the fourth quarter, the most ever. A partnership with United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) started in the first quarter, which could bring even stronger numbers.
Looking ahead, the company predicted full-year earnings of around $4 to $5 per share, excluding items, well ahead of the S&P Capital IQ consensus of $3.31 per share. It guided revenue to $570 million to $600 million in 2020, compared with expectations of $521.3 million.
While the huge jump today is undoubtedly welcome news for the company, it also raises some questions about how well Stamps.com is communicating with investors and the analyst community.
“This seems like something of an expectations-management failure for a $12 billion public company,” Axios’ Felix Salmon tweeted.