Zillow: Is it Monetizing Mobile?

(Updated to reflect earnings release date and today's share price movement..

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Recent data suggest that the real-estate market is getting better, and that could bode well for Zillow's(Z) ability to monetize its users, most importantly its mobile users.

Zillow sells its suite of products to real estate agents, who use these products on prospective buyers to show them the best homes for their needs. Zillow's products include various information on the approximate 100 million homes in the United States, as well as home and rental price estimates.

Zillow competes in this segment with Trulia and the National Association of Realtors.

In a recent interview, CEO Spencer Rascoff said that 50 homes have been viewed every second on mobile devices so far in January, up from 36 homes in December. Rascoff says Zillow is the No. 1 real estate app on the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.

The Seattle-based company can make money via its mobile initiatives as real estate agents are able to connect easier with potential home-buyers, Rascoff said.

Investors and analysts will be looking to see whether its marketplace revenue continues to grow sharply -- making Zillow's revenue less seasonal. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Zillow to report earnings of 1 cent per share on $18.77 million in revenue. Rascoff noted that the market place segment of revenues was growing 200% year-over-year.

Reinvigorating the housing market has been a main initiative of the Obama administration, and Zillow, with its real-estate expertise, could be poised to benefit, says Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Graham.

Graham notes that Zillow has done a good job of branding itself, and should continue to grow its users without heavy marketing spending. A prime example is the partnership Zillow has with Yahoo!(YHOO). Zillow now runs Yahoo! Real Estate, the largest real estate property on the Web.

Graham rates shares buy with a $32 price target.

Shares of Zillow have performed well this year, gaining 31.2% year-to-date. Zillow is set to report earnings after the close of trading on Feb. 15.

Zillow shares were higher Thursday, up 1.4% to $30.01.

Interested in more on Zillow? See TheStreet Ratings' report card for this stock.

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--Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York

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