3rd-quarter profit soars for Charlotte-based LendingTree

Charlotte-based LendingTree said Monday that its earnings for the third quarter soared thanks to sales increases across multiple product categories. The company raised its full-year earnings and sales outlook as a result.

In midmorning trading, the company’s shares were up more than 16 percent to $113.84.

For the three months that ended Sept. 30, LendingTree posted a profit of $6.09 million, or 49 cents a share, up from $381,000, or 3 cents a share in the same period in 2014. Quarterly revenue was $69.80 million, up 69 percent from $41.31 million in the third quarter last year.

LendingTree, which pairs customers with mortgage and other types of lenders, raised its guidance for full-year adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to $38.3 million to $38.8 million, up from a previous outlook of $35 million to $36 million. Revenue for the year is expected to range between $244 million and $247 million, up from its prior guidance of $225 million to $230 million.

“These results and our continued momentum in new categories give us the confidence to, once again, raise our outlook for this year and issue full-year 2016 guidance,” Doug Lebda, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement Monday.

Earlier this year, the company announced a change in its name from Tree.com, a move designed to emphasize the well-known LendingTree brand.

The company employs about 200 people at its headquarters in Ballantyne.

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 10:46 AM with the headline "3rd-quarter profit soars for Charlotte-based LendingTree."