Wayfair stock soars toward 15-month high after surprise profit reported, and revenue fell less than forecast

Shares of Wayfair Inc. soared 14.7% toward a 15-month high in premarket trading Thursday, after the home furnishings online retailer reported a surprise second-quarter profit, as a jump in gross margins helped offset declines in revenue and active customers. Net losses narrowed to $46 million, or 41 cents a share, from $378 million, or $3.59 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 21 cents beat the FactSet per-share loss consensus of 73 cents. Revenue fell 3.4% to $3.17 billion but topped the FactSet consensus of $3.10 billion. Active customers fell 7.6% to 21.8 million and orders per customer fell to 1.82 from 1.85, but net revenue per active customer over the last 12 months increased 1.5% to $545 and orders delivered grew 3.0% to 10.3 million. Gross margin, or gross profit as a percentage of revenue, improved to 31.1% from 27.3%. The stock has rocketed 121.6% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has advanced 17.6%.

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