Shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP), plunged 15% in a post trading session on Wall Street on Tuesday. The San Francisco based website, which collects consumer reviews of everything from dentists to night clubs, reported a loss of US$1.3 million ($0.02 per share) in the secind quarter of 2015, against a profit of US$2.7 million ($0.04 per share) a year earlier.
The adjusted EPS was US$0.12. Revenues did climb 51% to US$133.9 million. Analysts on average expected a quarterly EPS of US$0.01 on revenues of US$133.4 million.
In the third quarter, the group is targeting revenues of between US$139 and 142 million, against a consensus US$152 million. Over the year, revenues are now expected between US$544 and US$550 million, against a previous range of $ 574/579 million.
Yelp, along with the higher than expected loss and lower guidance, also announced the departure of the chairman of its board of directors, Max Levchin, who was also one of its first investors.
Investors have expressed concern over Yelp’s steady loss of users and in April, the company said it would stop releasing total monthly unique visitors statistics, limiting such user information only to desktop and mobile monthly unique visitors, which rose 22%, to about 83 million.
According to Yelp, desktop visitors were about 79 million, which was the first instance of mobile traffic surpassing desktop.
“Consumers are increasingly turning to apps when using their mobile phones, and we are excited about the growth we’ve seen in app usage which accelerated to 51% year over year,” said Yelp in a statement.
Investors may also have been disappointed that rumors of Yelp’s sale, which grew last May, have not materialized. Yelp was said to be working with investment bankers and potential buyers according to the Wall Street Journal.
Yelp shares have plummeted more than 20 percent this year, leaving the company with a market value of $2.9 billion. Yelp launched its initial public offering in 2012, pricing above expectations.
In April, Yelp won the dismissal of a lawsuit over the quality and authenticity of its consumer reviews.
Yelp hosts millions of amateur reviews of shops, restaurants and other businesses, giving the brand a foothold in the local side of e-commerce that many web companies covet. Revenue comes from businesses that pay to raise their profile with enhanced pages and advertising.