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

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The local business review company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.89 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 8.59%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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 Performance

Shares of Yelp stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.67. 2,133,590 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,540. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Yelp has a 1 year low of $19.60 and a 1 year high of $34.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.86.

Yelp News Roundup

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 Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,507 shares of company stock valued at $402,481. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Yelp by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Smith Thomas W purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter valued at about $244,000. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $266,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YELP. Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.57.

Yelp Company Profile

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.