ValueClick Shortfall Slams Shares

Shares of ValueClick(VCLK Quote - Cramer on VCLK - Stock Picks) were getting slammed Monday after the company announced second-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street expectations and lowered guidance.

The stock was recently off $6.06, or 23.3%, to $19.95.

ValueClick said earnings rose 22% to $17.6 million, or 17 cents a share. Revenue rose 14% to $148.7 million.

But analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 18 cents a share on revenue of $158.8 million.

The company also said it now expects earnings for the full year to come in between 74 cents to 76 cents a share on revenue of $645 million to $660 million. ValueClick had previously expected earnings of between 79 cents and 81 cents a share on revenue of $655 million to $665 million.

Shares of ValueClick had traded as high as $36.70 in May as a wave of consolidation took place in the online ad space and speculation of a takeover arose.

Google's acquisition of DoubleClick, Microsoft's takeover of aQuantive and Yahoo!'s purchase of the outstanding interest in Right Media led investors to bid up shares of ValueClick as major players sought their way to buy into the booming online ad space.