Monster Worldwide Swings To Q3 Profit; Shares Surge

(RTTNews) - Shares of Monster Worldwide Inc. (MWW) surged over 13 percent on Thursday, after the online recruitment company reported a swing to profit in the third quarter from a loss last year. Results for the comparable year-ago quarter was hurt by a hefty loss from discontinued operations.

Monster Worldwide's third-quarter profit was $11.27 million or $0.11 per share, compared to a loss of $194.24 million or $1.73 per share prior year.

Last year, the company recorded loss from discontinued operations of $235.4 million.

Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $0.08 per share compared to $0.09 per share last year. Third-quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations would have been $0.11 per share, which excludes approximately $5 million in stock-based compensation expenses, the company said in a statement.

On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of $0.08 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the third quarter dropped to $196.82 million from $220.82 million last year. Seven analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $200.60 million for the quarter.

Total operating expenses for the quarter declined to $182.6 million from $202.8 million a year ago.

"Our third quarter results were encouraging as we experienced stability in North America, protected profitability and continued executing on several important initiatives to enhance future growth," said CEO Sal Iannuzzi.

Looking forward, the company expects fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $0.09 to $0.13 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.08 per share for the period.

MWW is currently trading at $4.99, up $0.59 or 13.52%.