BIDZ Q4 Beats Estimates, Sees Q1 In Line

Bidz.com (BIDZ) Thursday afternoon reported fourth quarter revenue of $63 million and EPS of 29 cents, beating the Street estimates of $58.7 million and 17 cents. The company most recent guidance was that revenue would be higher than $58 million, with pre-tax income of $5.6 million to $6 million; the actual pre-tax number was $8.2 million.

For Q1, the Web-based jewelery auction site sees revenue of $59 million to $61 million, with EPS of 14-16 cents; that is about in line with the Street at $60.8 million and 14 cents.

For the full year, BIDZ now sees $225 million to $230 million in revenue, slightly less than the Street consensus of $231.8 million, with EPS of 49-53 cents, in line with the Street view at 51 cents. The company previously had forecast EPS of 47-51 cents. (The full-year revenue guidance is unchanged.)

The company said guidance does not reflect its planned new site, Buyz.com, or the expected translation of the site into additional languages, “given the uncertain economic environment and the fact that these are new initiatives for us.”

CFO Lawrence Kong said in a statement that the company as recently announced will start buying back stock, and that “the current share price does not reflect the excellent results of both the last quarter and year and our prospects for the future.”

The company said average selling price per order rose to $169, from $123 a year ago. Average orders per day rose 18.3%; average items sold per day was up 31.2%. On the other hand, the company said acquisition costs per new buyer rose to $51 in the latest quarter, from $35 a year ago.

In after hours trading, BIDZ is down 9 cents, at $10.70; the stock rose 61 cents in the regular session.