Why Marin Software, Inc. Shares Soared

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 Marin Software jumped more than 12% Wednesday after the ad revenue management specialist turned in better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

So what: Quarterly revenue rose 28% year over year to $21.8 million, which translated to an adjusted net loss of $0.21 per share. Analysts, on average, were looking for a net loss of $0.23 per share on sales of $21.26 million.

In addition, Marin expects current quarter revenue of $21.4 million to $21.8 million, which should result in an adjusted net loss of $0.28 to $0.26 per share. Analysts were modeling a narrower Q1 loss of $0.26 per share on sales of $21.57 million.

Finally, Marin sees full-year 2014 revenue of $95 million to $96.6 million, with an adjusted net loss per share of $0.94 to $0.90. The midpoint of both ranges stands well ahead of Wall Street's expectations, which currently call for a 2014 loss of $0.96 per share on sales of $93.68 million.

Now what: That full-year guidance bodes well for the company down road, indicating it believes it should be able to pick up steam in its march toward sustained profitability going forward.

Even so, remember the company still expects to lose nearly $30 million this year on a non-GAAP basis -- almost a third of its $104 million cash pile -- so there isn't much of a light at the end of the tunnel for investors hoping for sustained profitability just yet. For now, that's why I'm fine keeping Marin Software on my watch list to keep tabs on its progress.

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The article Why Marin Software, Inc. Shares Soared originally appeared on Fool.com.

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