IAC/InterActiveCorp Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of IAC/InterActiveCorp. (NAS: IACI) rallied more than 15% in early trading on huge second-quarter earnings gains that blew away Wall Street estimates.

So what: Revenue surged 23% to $485.4 million while adjusted earnings rose more than 150% to $0.62 a share. Analysts were expecting $463.4 million and $0.40 a share, respectively, according to Yahoo! Finance data.

Now what: Who says Google (NAS: GOOG) and Microsoft's (NAS: MSFT) Bing have cornered online search? IAC's search business, which includes Ask.com and Dictionary.com, grew 28% year-over-year and accounted for roughly 52% of revenue. The Match.com dating site and related business grew 20%. A sharp decline in shares outstanding helped boost earnings, but that doesn't diminish IAC's top-line gains. Chairman Barry Diller is rightly crowing at the performance today, telling investors in the quarterly conference call that IAC is "in the best shape we've ever been." Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think about IAC/InterActiveCorp's business using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorTim Beyersis a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He owned shares of Google at the time of publication. Check out Tim'sportfolio holdingsandFoolish writings, or connect with him onGoogle+or Twitter, where he goes by@milehighfool. You can also get his insightsdelivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool owns shares of Google and Microsoft.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Google and Microsoft.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended creating a position in Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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