Zillow shares surge as home segment boosts revenue
(Reuters) -Shares of Zillow Group Inc rose 13% on Friday after the online real estate firm's fourth-quarter revenue handily beat estimates, helped by a strong performance at its home segment.
The segment, which helps customers list their properties for sale, marked an 11-fold rise in revenue as Zillow managed to sell inventory faster and at better prices despite setbacks due to the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The results hint at a turn in Zillow's fortunes. The company's shares slumped nearly 50% in November, when unpredictable home prices forced Zillow to announce a surprise exit from its business of flipping houses.
As part of the exit, Zillow is selling more properties to New York-based investment firm Pretium Partners, Bloomberg News reported https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-11/zillow-selling-more-homes-to-pretium-as-flipping-effort-ends?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google&sref=WJKVI5nK on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Pretium recently bought more than 800 properties from Zillow for nearly $300 million and signed a roughly $150 million agreement to acquire 400 more, according to the report.
Zillow reported quarterly revenue of $3.88 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.98 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Several brokerages raised their price targets on the company's stock, on Zillow's move toward a "housing super app", with the company aiming to integrate the processes related to buying or selling a house.
Zillow's shares were trading at $54.37.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shounak Dasgupta)
