After turning in another stellar quarter that saw the company’s first-quarter revenue rise 68% over 2014, Ellie Mae (ELLI) rode a wave of positivity to new heights on Friday.
Just days after analysts from RBC Capital Markets categorized the company’s stock as “outperform” and raised their target to $65, Ellie Mae’s stock shot past that figure in Friday’s trading, closing at $66.88.
Friday’s closing price was a record price for Ellie Mae, by a significant margin. The company’s previous high was set just three days ago, when Ellie Mae closed at $58.47 on Tuesday, March 30.
For the year, Ellie Mae is up 66.29%. Compared to one year ago, Ellie Mae is up a startling 174.21%.
Industry analysts cited the company’s revised guidance for the reminder of 2015 as one reason for Friday’s jump.
When the company released its first-quarter results on Thursday, it said that it expected its second-quarter revenue to be in the range of $59 million to $60 million.
The company also said that its net income is expected to be in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million, or $0.03 to $0.05 per diluted share. Adjusted net income is expected to be in the range of $8.6 million to $9.3 million, or $0.28 to $0.30 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $12.1 million to $13.3 million for the quarter.
The company also said its 2015 revenue is expected to be in the range of $223 million to $226 million, up from the previously provided range of $203 million to $206 million.
Ellie Mae President and CEO Jonathan Corr said that the company had a great start to the year with an “outstanding” first quarter.
“In addition to another highly successful Encompass user experience, the quarter ended with financial results that exceeded our revenue, net income and adjusted EBITDA objectives,” Corr said.
“Our clients closed more loans than expected due to origination volumes that were above initial industry forecasts, but our customers also outpaced the mortgage industry as a whole,” Corr continued.
“On top of this, our active user base increased by nearly ten thousand seats and we continued to drive customer adoption across our product portfolio,” Corr added. “Combined, these factors helped grow average revenue per user by 38%. Our results demonstrate the leverage in our business model when expectations are exceeded across multiple fronts.”
Ellie Mae’s strong post-earnings performance led one analyst, Needham, to raise its target on Ellie Mae to $75. Per a note from Briefing.com, Needham said that they believe the “positive results and guidance underscore the strong demand from mortgage lenders to automate and streamline the mortgage loan origination process, company’s successful push into the mega lender market, and market share gains.”
