Bazaarvoice Loss Narrows, Stock Down 8%

(RTTNews) - Bazaarvoice Inc. (BV), a social commerce solutions provider, Wednesday reported a smaller loss for the fourth quarter, helped by a double-digit growth in revenues and lower operating costs. Earnings for the quarter trumped Wall Street expectations by a penny, while revenues fell short of estimates. Shares of the company were down about 8 percent in the after-hours trading.

Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice's fourth-quarter loss loss narrowed to $8.8 million or $0.11 per share from last year's loss of $23.7 million or $0.31 per share.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted loss from continuing operations for the quarter narrowed to $4.4 million or $0.06 per share from $8.4 million or $0.11 per share in the prior year quarter. On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.07 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Bazaarvoice's revenues for the fourth quarter rose 12 percent to $48.32 million from $43.08 million a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $48.64 million for the quarter.

Total operating expenses dropped to $39.0 million from $40.9 million last year.

Bazaarvoice offers its solutions through Bazaarvoice conversations platform, a software as a service platform that enable clients to capture, display, and analyze online word of mouth, including ratings and reviews, videos and other forms of consumer-generated content.

The company's number of active clients at the end of the quarter was 1,353 and the number of network clients was over 3,800.

BV closed Wednesday's regular trade at $6.24, up $0.12 or 2.04%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $0.49 or 7.85% in the after-hours trading.