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(Reuters) - GrubHub Inc (N:GRUB) beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday, as the online food delivery company attracted more diners through increased restaurant partnerships, sending its shares up about 6%.
The company also forecast its full-year revenue in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion, the mid point of which was above analysts' estimate of $1.45 billion.
The results were a reversal from the company's disappointing third-quarter earnings, which GrubHub blamed on slowing growth as customers opted to choose from a growing pool of rival providers to get better deals.
GrubHub's third-quarter results wiped off $2 billion in its market value.
Following the fiasco, GrubHub, though a strong advocate of restaurants partnerships, said it would also include non-partnered restaurants on its platform by the end of 2020.
GrubHub had more than 300,000 options for its diners at the end of fourth quarter, almost more than double the number of restaurants it had at the beginning of the quarter.
The company, which faces competition from UberEats, DoorDash, and Postmates, partnered with Dine Brands (N:DIN) and McDonald's (N:MCD) late last year.
Chicago-based GrubHub said it had 22.6 million active diners in the quarter, above analysts' average estimate of 22.2 million diners. The company defines active diners as the number of unique customer accounts from which orders have been placed.
Revenue rose 19% to $341.3 million, above analysts' average estimate of $325.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
However, net loss widened to $27.7 million, or 30 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $5.2 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.
Total costs rose 26% to $366.1 mln.
Excluding items, the company reported a loss of 5 cents per share.