Commerce One Beats Estimates but Slips in After-Hours Trading

Commerce One (CMRC Quote) reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the second quarter, as the business-to-business software company saw its revenue grow more than 79%.

But that wasn't enough to help the company in the wake of Ariba's(ARBA Quote) stellar numbers last week, and Commerce One sold off sharply in after-hours trading.

The company reported a net loss of 10 cents a share, excluding nonoperating charges, or $16.2 million, in the quarter, compared with a split-adjusted net loss of 9 cents a share, or $9.7 million, in the year-earlier quarter.

The 22 analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial had projected a net loss of 13 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue surged to $62.7 million for the quarter, 179% of the previous quarter's revenue of $35 million and up 1,392% from $4.2 million in the second quarter of 1999.

Analysts had been expecting revenues between $47 million and $50 million.

Commerce One said it added 85 new customers for the quarter, bringing its total customer count to 210. It now has 123 marketplace customers and 72 marketplaces, 34 of which are currently functional.

"The growing demand for open, global e-marketplace solutions has fueled our strong revenue growth and secured our leadership position in the B2B e-commerce market," Mark Hoffman, Commerce One's president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Commerce One's shares climbed 2 3/16, or 3.4%, to end regular trading at 66 9/16 ahead of the Pleasanton, Calif.-based company's earnings report on Tuesday. In after-hours trading, the stock plunged 6 9/16, or 9.8%, to 60, according to Instinet. (TheStreet.com explained why a drop like this might occur in an earlier story.)

Including one-time charges, Commerce One's net loss widened to $43.1 million, or 28 cents a share in the latest quarter, compared with $11.8 million, or a split-adjusted 11 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.