NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2015 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on small-cap and micro-cap public companies, today announced it has issued an update on IZEA, Inc. (OTCQB: IZEA).
"We were impressed by IZEA's strong 3Q15 revenues and bookings, which were both records for the company. Overall top line results have progressed ahead of our initial view of the company, as IZEA has invested in driving the robust growth of its online marketplace for connecting brands and publishers with content creators. The company clearly expects this trend to continue, as it announced that it was targeting $100mn in annualized bookings by the end of 2018," stated Ajay Tandon, CEO of SeeThruEquity. "Based on the results and expectation, we are raising our price target from $0.80 to $1.25 per share."
The report is available here: IZEA November 2015 Update Note. SeeThruEquity is an approved equity research contributor on Thomson First Call, Capital IQ, FactSet, and Zack's. The report will be available on these platforms. The firm also contributes its estimates to Thomson Estimates, the leading estimates platform on Wall Street.
Additional highlights from the update note are as follows:
Record revenues drive robust growth in 3Q15 IZEA
We were impressed by the acceleration of demand at IZEA during 3Q15. Revenues rose to a record $5.4mn in 3Q15, up 182% YoY. Sponsored Social revenue climbed 80% annually to $3.2mn, while Content revenue was $2.2mn. For the first nine months of the year, revenues rose 142.5% to $14.2mn, versus $5.9mn in year-ago period.
Bookings and Pipeline suggest demand continues to accelerate
IZEA also showed remarkable strength in bookings. Indeed, 3Q15 company bookings were an all-time record for the company, at $6.7mn, versus $2.0mn in the year-ago period in 3Q14. Management indicated that the strength in bookings was apparent both in its Sponsored Social and Content programs, and disclosed that September was a record month for the company, with over $3mn in bookings, including the largest single booking in the company's history - one from a top five e-commerce company.
Targeting $100mn in annual bookings by the end of 2018E
Overall we see clear evidence of growing demand for IZEA, and believe the company is focused on achieving its goal of achieving an annual run rate of $100mn in bookings by the end of 2018E. Indeed, IZEA management indicated that - just over the last year - its sales team had experienced an increase in new bookings of 106% per salesperson, with its overall "new opportunity pipeline" growing 120% YoY to $36.2mn at the end of the quarter. The company defines its "new opportunity pipeline" as representation of new proposals and/or increased proposals generated with existing advertising partners taking place within the quarter. Although a non-GAAP measure, we see rise in the "new opportunity pipeline" as a key barometer to watch when trying to evaluate the overall health of IZEA's business.
Raising price target to $1.25
IZEA has outperformed our topline expectations, with growth stemming from internal initiatives as well as strategic acquisitions. We are increasing our target to reflect the larger scale of the company and our higher estimates. The new target of $1.25 reflects a target EV/revenue multiple of 3.2x our 2016E revenue estimate of $36.2mn, and represents 190.7% potential upside from the recent price of $0.43.
Please review important disclosures on our website at www.seethruequity.com.
About IZEA, Inc.
IZEA, Inc. (IZEA operates the premier online marketplace that connects brands with influential content creators. IZEA creators range from leading bloggers and social media personalities to A-List celebrities and professional journalists. Creators are compensated for developing and distributing unique content on behalf of brands including long form text, videos, photos and status updates. Brands receive influential consumer content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness. For more information about IZEA, visit http://corp.izea.com.
About SeeThruEquity
SeeThruEquity is an equity research and corporate access firm focused on companies with less than $1 billion in market capitalization. The research is not paid for and is unbiased. The company does not conduct any investment banking or commission based business. SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), Capital IQ, FactSet, Zacks, and distribute its research to its database of opt-in investors. The company also contributes its estimates to Thomson Estimates, the leading estimates platform on Wall Street.
For more information visit www.seethruequity.com.
Contact:
Ajay Tandon
SeeThruEquity
info@seethruequity.com
SOURCE: SeeThruEquity
