Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 9.47%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS.

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

• Yelp accelerated its AI transformation, rolling out more than 35 new features including a new Yelp Assistant across all categories, which now accounts for roughly 15% of request?to?quote projects.
• Advertising demand remains soft: RR&O ad revenue declined 11% year?over?year, paying advertising locations fell 6% to 485,000, and ad clicks were down 10%, factors that helped management maintain its full?year outlook amid March weakness.
• Other revenue hit a record $29 million, up 75% y/y driven by food ordering (+88% via the DoorDash partnership), data licensing (deals with OpenAI and others), and Hatch (March ARR >$34M, +92%); management is targeting a $250 million other?revenue run rate by end of 2028.
• Q1 financials showed modest top?line growth with net revenue +1% to $361M while net income fell 27% to $18M (5% margin) and adjusted EBITDA was $79M (22% margin), with both revenue and EBITDA beating the high end of guidance.
• Management is prioritizing AI investments while returning capital to shareholders, repurchasing $125M of stock in Q1 (reducing diluted shares ~12% y/y) and aiming to cut stock?based comp to <6% of revenue by end of 2027 to help expand adjusted EBITDA margins over time.

Yelp Trading Down 5.1%

YELP stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.04. 2,020,121 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 931,805. Yelp has a 52-week low of $19.60 and a 52-week high of $41.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.55 and its 200-day moving average is $27.59. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.53.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other Yelp news, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $30,773.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,442. The trade was a 7.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total transaction of $29,664.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,881.20. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 28,864 shares of company stock valued at $723,573 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Yelp by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Yelp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,000. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Yelp

Here are the key news stories impacting Yelp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yelp beat Q1 expectations, reporting $0.30 EPS versus $0.26 expected and $361.46 million in revenue versus $353.47 million estimated, helped by stronger other revenue and broader adoption of its Assistant tools. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Yelp said it is advancing its AI transformation, which may support future product improvements and monetization if adoption continues. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Yelp to $26 from $22 but kept a neutral rating, suggesting the stock may still have limited upside from current levels. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s Q1 earnings call transcript and related coverage indicate investors are focusing on whether revenue growth can outpace expense pressure in coming quarters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, Q1 EPS declined from a year ago and costs rose, which may be pressuring sentiment around profitability. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Yelp’s FY2026 revenue guidance appears roughly in line with consensus, but the lack of a clearly stronger outlook may be limiting enthusiasm for the stock. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YELP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $29.38.

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.