Resonate beats Street in first public quarter

Resonate easily topped analysts' estimates in its third quarter Thursday, posting a loss of $6.1 million, or 26 cents a share, on sales of $6.1 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected the Internet software developer to lose 30 cents a share in the quarter.

Ahead of the earnings report, Resonate (Nasdaq: RSNT) shares closed up $4.25 to $45.75.

The $6.1 million in sales marks a 112 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it lost $3.1 million, or 19 cents a share, on sales of $2.9 million.

This was the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm's first earnings report since its strong initial public offering in August.

"We are extremely pleased with the progress we have made in our first quarter as a public company,'' said CEO Ken Schroeder in a prepared release. "We continued to build our market presence, and now have a base of over 400 customers worldwide."

On Tuesday, W.R. Hambrecht started the stock with a "buy" recommendation.

The stock moved up to an all-time high of $50.63 in its debut before falling to a low of $28.63 in September.

All five analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."

Analysts expect it to lose $1.43 a share in the fiscal year.