Why Web.com's Shares Plunged

What: Shares of Web.com Group (NAS: WWWW) lost as much as 14% today, after reporting a mixed earnings report.

So what: Third-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $0.41, which was $0.02 ahead of estimates and adjusted revenue of $124.2 million beat the $121.7 million that analysts expected. The issue is that GAAP loss was $21.5 million, or $0.45 per share and GAAP revenue was only $105.8 million, which is well below the adjusted numbers.

Now what: This is the third straight quarter Web.com has had huge gaps between GAAP earnings and adjusted earnings, which should be a warning sign for investors. Adjusted earnings are supposed to be adjustments for one-time items, but this just looks like a recurring series of costs, like restructuring and fair value adjustments. I'm not buying today, and wouldn't until I see some clear GAAP earnings improvement.

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The article Why Web.com's Shares Plunged originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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