Why Limelight Networks Shares Jumped as Much as 28% Today | The Motley Fool

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What happened

Shares of ( content delivery networking expert Limelight Networks NASDAQ:LLNW) are in the spotlight today, rising as much as 28.2% on the back of a strong earnings report. By 12:40 p.m. EDT, the stock has cooled down to a still-impressive 23.1% gain.

So what

Limelight's third-quarter revenue climbed 4.7% year over year, landing at $51.3 million. Adjusted earnings backed down from $0.03 to $0.01 per diluted share. Your average analyst had been looking for earnings near $0.01 per share on sales in the neighborhood of $49.9 million.

Looking ahead, management issued full-year guidance updates that pointed to breakeven earnings and full-year sales near $205 million. Here, Wall Street had been expecting a net loss of roughly $0.02 per share on revenue closer to $198 million.

Now what

A couple of analyst firms followed up on this solid report with boosted price targets. For example, B. Riley analyst Lee Krowl raised his price target from $3.70 to $4.10 per share, citing the company's successful growth initiatives.

"We made some tough strategic decisions last year, which negatively impacted revenue in the short term, but positioned us better for a long-term financial success," Limelight CEO Bob Lento said on the earnings call. In the third quarter, our financial results began to show the benefits of those decisions, as we return to year-over-year revenue growth."