Wayfair's stock surges after online retailer reports narrower loss than expected

Shares of Wayfair Inc. W, +28.15% shot up 5.1% in premarket trade Friday, after the online home furnishings seller reported fourth-quarter losses that were narrower than expected and revenue that beat forecasts. The net loss widened to $143.8 million, or $1.59 a share, from $72.8 million, or 83 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, the adjusted loss per share was $1.12, compared with the FactSet consensus of a $1.28 loss per share. Revenue rose to $2.01 billion from $1.44 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.97 billion, as direct retail revenue grew 41% to $2.00 billion to top expectations of $1.95 billion. The number of active direct retail customers increased 38% to 15.2 million and orders per customer increased to 1.85 from 1.77, while the average order value declined to $227 from $229, but matched the FactSet consensus. The stock has rallied 7.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.40% has climbed 10.7%.

Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch’s free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.