zulily back to school

Zulily reported second-quarter financial results today that met or exceeded both internal and external expectations.

The Seattle retailer, which sells discounted apparel and home goods to mostly moms, said today that non-GAAP EBITDA totaled $14.2 million, or 6 cents a share, on sales of $297.6 million in the second quarter.

In a poll by Thomson Reuters, eight analysts said they expected Zulily to post earnings of 4 cents a share on revenues of $294 million. Zulily’s own estimates had called for it to earn non-GAAP EBITDA of $8 to $12 million on revenues of $285 to $300 million.

“We continued to realize efficiencies from significant capital investments in supply chain operations made in 2014 and demonstrated discipline around our cost structure,” said Darrell Cavens, Zulily’s President and CEO, in a statement. “We’ve made good progress on our marketing strategy and we’ve materially improved our site experience, merchandising selection and order execution to deliver an incredibly unique customer experience focused on surprise and delight, every day.”

The company picked several metrics to highlight, including its active customer base, which increased 19 percent in the second quarter, to 4.9 million. It said total orders also grew, increasing 7 percent, to 5.8 million. (Active customers are defined as a customer who has purchased something from Zulily at least once in the past year.)

Today’s results should be the first step in repairing relations with analysts and investors, who were disappointed last quarter after the company slashed its outlook for the year and reported less-than-stellar financial results. Multiple analysts cut their price targets and downgraded their ratings, but some went as far as apologizing for ever recommending the stock in the first place.

Following those results, the company’s stock tanked, and since then, hasn’t recovered much. Immediately following the release of its earnings today, Zulily’s shares were up 4.5 percent to $12.50 a share.

The company reiterated its 2015 outlook, saying that it expects sales between $1.3 and $1.4 billion. In the third quarter, it predicts a slight increase in the top line, with sales of $300 million to $325 million, and a wide range of results on the bottomline, with non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA predicted to total between $5.0 million and $15 million.

Zulily will host a conference call with analysts this afternoon to discuss results.

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