Trulia (TRLA) started trading on the NYSE on 20 Sept 2012

Trulia’s stock (TRLA) traded up 41% to close at $24, after opening at $22.10. The online real-estate listing company priced its IPO late Wednesday at $17, above its initial expected range of $14 to $16.

The IPO market has been quiet for more than a month, as the traditional late-summer freeze extended into September.

Trulia says it had 22 million monthly unique visitors and more than 360,000 real-estate professionals using the site as of the end of June, according to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s revenue comes from subscription sales to real-estate professionals, as well as online display advertising.

Trulia recorded a loss of $7.6 million on revenue of $29 million for the six-month period ended June 30, according to its IPO filing. That compared with a loss of $2.6 million on revenue of $16 million in the same period a year earlier.

Trulia competes in an increasingly popular space, the market for online services geared to real-estate transactions.

One of its main competitors, Zillow Inc. (Z), had a successful IPO in July 2011. Zillow shares have doubled since the beginning of the year. Its stock was trading down 1.3% at $45 on Thursday.

CEO and Founder Pete Flint attends the Trulia IPO and rings the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on September 20, 2012 in New York City.

Facebook (FB) up +15% this week; its best week since IPO

Zynga's (ZNGA) marketing chief resigns after a year on the job

• 8th Zynga manager to leave since early August 2012

The departure of senior talent at online video games purveyor Zynga (ZNGA) continues this afternoon as the company announced in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission that its chief marketing officer, Jeff Karp, resigned.

Karp’s departure follows the departure of its chief creative officer, Mike Verdu, last month, followed almost immediately by the departure of its VP of studios, Bill Mooney, and vice president of marketing Brian Birtwistle.

Zynga has classically made much of its revenue from games hosted on Facebook (FB), though it has attempted to broaden its appeal to games it hosts directly on line through its own properties.

Zynga stock is off 2 cents, or 0.7%, at $2.80 in late trading.

Update: In a statement released this afternoon, subsequent to the filing, Zynga commented as follows:

Jeff Karp is leaving Zynga, and the groups in his organization have been realigned under appropriate existing divisions. Our marketing and revenue teams have always been industry leaders, and as we continue our transition toward mobile and multiplatform game creation and distribution, their continued execution will be key to our future success.  We are grateful to Jeff for his contributions over the last year and wish him well in his future endeavors.

Groupon names KPMG veteran its chief accounting officer

Groupon Inc. hired a veteran of accounting giant KPMG LLP as its chief accounting officer, the company said today.

Brian Stevens takes the job immediately and will report to Chief Financial Officer Jason Child, Chicago-based Groupon said. He spent 16 years with KPMG, working as an audit partner from audit partner from October 2007 through August, according to a news release.

Joe Del Preto will remain vice-president and global controller and report to Mr. Stevens, Groupon said.
Mr. Child recently told Crain's he was close to hiring a chief accounting officer.

Mr. Stevens is expected to beef up the accounting team at a company that has come under fire for weak bookkeeping. Just months after it went public, Groupon had to revise its first quarterly financials after underestimating the level of reserves required for refunds, which rose sharply amid an increase in high-ticket offers such as Lasik surgery. The company's auditors also warned that Groupon's financial controls had material weakness, starting a sharp decline in the stock that continues as confidence in management has waned.

The shares now trade at just over $4 per share, compared with its $20 IPO price.

Groupon faces a year-end deadline for auditors for sign off on its internal financial financial controls, as required by Sarbanes-Oxley.

KPMG was the firm Groupon hired to help get its financial controls up to par.
Mr. Stevens and his family will move to Chicago soon from Connecticut, according to a Groupon spokeswoman.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Q4 loss narrows, revenue jumps; stock drops a/h

Palo Alto Networks Inc.'s (PANW) fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed as the network security firm's revenue strengthened.

The company, which went public in July, makes hardware and software that provides computer-network security. Its products are used to replace older systems operated by companies or government agencies, and the company said it reduces expenses for its customers by simplifying network-security systems.

For the quarter ended July 31, Palo Alto reported a loss of $4.6 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $6 million, or 40 cents a share. Excluding stock-based compensation, earnings were three cents a share compared with a year-earlier loss of 34 cents a share. Revenue climbed 88% to $75.6 million.

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Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected earnings to break even on a per-share basis, and revenue of $71 million.

Gross margin eased to 71.5% from 71.8%. Operating expenses were up 70%.

Product revenue, which makes up the bulk of its top line, jumped 70% while services revenue more than doubled.

The company added more than 1,000 new end customers in quarter, bringing its customer base to more than 9,000.

Shares slipped 7.1% after hours. Through the close, the stock has jumped 71% since its IPO price of $42.

Five Below Q2 profit falls 44% on debt expenses; drops 7% after hours

Five Below Inc.'s (FIVE) fiscal second-quarter profit fell 44% as the teen discount retailer logged heavy debt-related expenses, masking an increase in sales.

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Shares fell 7.6% in after-hours trading to $32.16. Through the close, the stock had more than doubled from its July initial offering price of $17.

Targeting teen and pre-teen shoppers, Five Below offers everything from headphones to nail polish, priced at $5 or less. The company's quickly revolving merchandise is intended to draw in repeat customers, helping it book 25 straight quarters of same-store sales growth.

The latest quarter included a loss of $1.59 million on the extinguishment of debt. Interest expense reached $1.32 million, up from $5000 a year ago. The interest expenses were related to a term loan of $100 million taken in the second quarter, of which $65.3 million was repaid after the company's public launch.

For the quarter ended July 28, the company posted a profit of $1.25 million, down from $2.21 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, which includes the effects of dividend payments, the company reported a loss of $3.41, compared with a year-ago loss of 10 cents. Excluding dividend payments and expenses related to founders' stock compensation, per-share earnings were flat at four cents.

Sales increased 40% to $86.8 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit of a penny on sales of $82 million.

Gross margin widened to 33.1% from 32.3%.

Same-store sales grew 8.6%.

Five Below opened 27 stores in the second quarter, ending with 226 stores.

For the current quarter, the company expects to report per-share income of breakeven to a penny, excluding tax-related expenses, on revenue of $79 million to $81 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected per-share earnings of breakeven on revenue of $80 million.

For the year, Five Below expects adjusted per-share earnings of 45 cents to 47 cents, with sales of $402 million to $407 million. The Street expected per-share earnings of 44 cents on revenue of $399 million.

FB says Zuckerberg, directors won't sell shares

Facebook (FB) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and two company directors, Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham, do not plan to sell any company shares following the expiration of a lockup period, the social networking giant said in a regulatory filing late Tuesday. 

Zuckerberg, who is also the company's co-founder, "has no intention to conduct any sale transaction in our securities for at least 12 months," Facebook said. Shares of Facebook rose nearly 2% in after-hours trading, after hitting a new low in regular trading. Facebook shares have been weighed down by the coming lockup expirations for more than 1.3 billion shares before the end of the year. A big wave of roughly 1.22 billion is expected to hit Nov. 14.