Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.21 EPS

by · The Markets Daily

Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The local business review company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $366.89 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 8.59%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Yelp’s conference call:

  • Q2 revenue rose 1% to $376 million, exceeding the high end of guidance, but advertising remained pressured: services ad revenue was flat, RR&O ad revenue fell 10%, and paying advertising locations declined 1% year over year.
  • AI-driven revenue streams gained momentum, with other revenue increasing 98% to a record $33 million, supported by Hatch, data licensing, and food orders. Yelp is targeting a $250 million annual run rate in other revenue by the end of 2028.
  • Yelp reported encouraging product and traffic trends, including improved app installs and page views, approximately 10% growth in services project submissions, and Yelp Host reaching a 2.4 million annual call-handling run rate. Partnerships with OpenAI, including upcoming Request a Quote functionality, could expand Yelp’s distribution over time.
  • Near-term profitability is expected to weaken as investments increase in AI, Hatch, and consumer marketing; Q3 adjusted EBITDA guidance is $70 million to $75 million. Full-year revenue guidance was narrowed to $1.460 billion–$1.470 billion and adjusted EBITDA to $315 million–$325 million, while share repurchases are paused until the company pays down its revolving credit facility.

Yelp Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:YELP traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.67. 2,133,590 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,540. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.86. Yelp has a one year low of $19.60 and a one year high of $34.49. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46.

Key Headlines Impacting Yelp

Here are the key news stories impacting Yelp this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Yelp reported adjusted earnings of $0.62 per share, well above the $0.32–$0.36 analyst estimates, while revenue of $375.5 million surpassed expectations of approximately $367 million. Revenue increased 1.4% year over year, supporting the positive investor reaction. Yelp Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
  • Positive Sentiment: Results beat consensus despite a year-over-year EPS decline. The earnings outperformance suggests effective cost management and stronger-than-anticipated profitability, even though EPS declined from $0.67 in the prior-year quarter. Yelp Quarterly Earnings Results
  • Positive Sentiment: Management’s full-year revenue outlook is broadly in line with Wall Street expectations. Yelp provided fiscal 2026 revenue guidance of approximately $1.5 billion, matching consensus and reducing the risk of a major forecast shortfall. Yelp Shares Rise on Strong Q2

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at $365,547.60. This represents a 49.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,507 shares of company stock valued at $402,481. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Yelp by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 142,943 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Yelp by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 63,442 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YELP has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $27.57.

View Our Latest Report on Yelp

About Yelp

(Get Free Report)

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.

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