SEATTLE (AP) -- Zillow Inc. earned its first-ever first-quarter profit as its revenue doubled, thanks to increasing traffic to its real estate information website.
The company also said Wednesday that it will acquire San Francisco-based RentJuice Corp. for $40 million in cash. RentJuice Corp. makes software used by landlords, property managers and rental brokers.
In the most recent quarter, for the first time, more people turned to mobile devices than to Zillow's website to view the company's database of 100 million homes, which includes listings of homes for sale and for rent, the company said.
Zillow, which went public last July and derives its revenue from advertising and agent subscriptions, reported net income of $1.7 million, or 6 cents a share, for the three months that ended March 31. That compares with a loss of $826,000, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.
Zillow's revenue jumped to $22.8 million from $11.3 million, fueled by stronger marketplace and display ad receipts.
The results beat analysts' average forecast for earnings of 4 cents a share on $21.5 million in revenue, according to FactSet.
In the latest quarter, the company's marketplace revenue increased more than twofold to $16.6 million from $6.9 million a year earlier. Display revenue rose 42 percent to $6.2 million from $4.4 million.
Average monthly unique users grew 84 percent to 31.8 million from 17.3 million from the prior-year period.
The company's roster of premier agent subscribers stood at 18,616 at the end of the quarter, up 74 percent from a year earlier.
Zillow expects second-quarter revenue of $25.5 million to $26.5 million. Wall Street has forecast $24.8 million.
RentJuice, Zillow's third acquisition, primarily serves rental professionals.
"This acquisition will provide us with a comprehensive suite of business and marketing services for rental professionals, similar to what took us years to build and grow in our parallel marketplace for real estate agents," CEO Spencer Rascoff said in a statement.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.
Zillow shares rose $1.90, or 5.3 percent, to $38 in extended trading. That's on top of a $1.40, or 4 percent, increase during regular trading to close at $36.10.
