Homestore Rebuilds Revenue

Homestore (HOMS Quote) on Wednesday slashed its net loss in the third quarter on rising sales.

The online real estate firm lost $4.57 million, or 3 cents a share, in the just-completed period. In the year-ago quarter, the company lost $30.58 million, or 26 cents a share.

The company's revenue rose about 9% to $56.08 million.

Homestore's results in the third quarter included a $7.2 million charge related to a recent court ruling. The quarter's results also included a separate $1.4 million settlement charge and a $2.1 million gain for the sale of a building. Excluding those gains and charges, the company would have earned about $1.9 million, or about a penny a share.

Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting the company to break even in the quarter on sales of $57.75 million. But at least some analysts did not factor in the company's court-related expenses. Absent that expense alone, the company would have earned about $2.6 million, or about 2 cents a share.

Homestore did not provide a fourth-quarter outlook. Analysts predicted that the company would earn a penny a share on $58.18 million in sales in the fourth quarter.

The company's statement was released after the bell. In recent after-hours trading, Homestore's shares were up 2 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.62. Earlier in the day, the company's stock closed regular trading up 23 cents, or 9.7%, to $2.60.