Brokers Issue Forecasts for Yelp’s Q1 Earnings (NYSE:YELP)

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) – Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Yelp in a research report issued on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the local business review company will post earnings per share of $0.27 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.38. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Yelp’s current full-year earnings is $2.22 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yelp’s Q2 2026 earnings at $0.55 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.58 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.53 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $1.94 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.58 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.60 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.59 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.27 EPS.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. The business had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis.

YELP has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Evercore cut their price objective on Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

Yelp Price Performance

Yelp stock opened at $24.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.12 and a 200-day moving average of $29.36. Yelp has a one year low of $19.60 and a one year high of $41.22.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Yelp by 157.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 252,564 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $9,352,000 after buying an additional 154,612 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 0.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 76,376 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Yelp by 2.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,551 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Yelp by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,377 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Yelp in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.26, for a total transaction of $817,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 756,458 shares in the company, valued at $20,621,045.08. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.69, for a total value of $46,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,378 shares in the company, valued at $2,282,660.82. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 236,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,501,015 over the last ninety days. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Yelp

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.