DoubleClick Tops First Quarter Estimates, but Guides Lower

DoubleClick(DCLK) posted a bottom line that came in a penny ahead of Wall Street's consensus estimate for the first quarter, but the online advertising company warned investors to expect a tough year from here on.

The company said it lost 8 cents a share, excluding charges, in the quarter. Nineteen analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call were calling for the company to lose 9 cents in the period. DoubleClick lost 11 cents in the year-ago period.

DoubleClick reported revenue of $114.9 million, ahead of the $108.6 million analysts were projecting.

Shares of the New York-based company fell 61 cents, or 4.8%, to $12.01 to close regular-session Nasdaq trading, but investors rode the stock down to $11.15 in recent after-hours Island activity.

The company also said it expected to lose between 5 cents and 7 cents in the second quarter on revenue of $100 million to $105 million. Analysts were expecting a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $118.7 million for the period.

The bad news kept on coming as the company said it now expects to lose between 18 cents and 22 cents for the full year, while the consensus forecast calls for earnings of 3 cents a share.

"Online marketing is soft right now, along with the whole economy," the company said in a statement. "As the economy turns around, DoubleClick will benefit along with its customers. For the time being though, we need to manage our operations tightly, and not be overly aggressive in our revenue projections.''

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