TechTarget posts 4Q loss as sales slip and expenses mount; CEO sees “healthy” growth in 2010

TechTarget posts 4Q loss, CEO sees healthy growth

NEWTON, Mass. — Technology Web site operator TechTarget Inc. posted a fourth-quarter loss as sales slipped and the company absorbed higher expenses for stock-based compensation, but CEO Greg Strakosch predicted “healthy growth” in 2010, now that “the worst of the downturn is behind us.”

The company, which operates more than 60 sites that claim a total of more than 8.5 million registered members, said Wednesday that it lost $827,000, or 2 cents per share, in the last three months of 2009. That compares with a profit of $441,000, or a penny per share, a year earlier.

Excluding expenses for employee stock-based compensation and other items, the company earned 5 cents per share, which was slightly below the average estimate of 6 cents per share from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue fell 13 percent to $23.2 million, better than the $22 million analysts expected.

In the current quarter, the company expects revenue of $19.7 million to $20.7 million. Analysts’ average estimate was for $19 million.

TechTarget shares fell a penny, or 0.3 percent, to $5.22 in extended trading, after the results were reported Wednesday. The stock had fallen 17 cents, or 3.2 percent, to finish the day’s regular trading session at $5.23.