Shares of Advantage Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: ADV) continued their rise after the company this week said it expected the impacts of COVID to ease in the back half of the year, prompting a boost in its 2021 earnings guidance.
The Irvine-based sales and marketing firm’s shares were up 7.3% in midday trading Thursday to $10.78 for a market cap of $3.3 billion.
The company said it now expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be in the range of $515 million and $525 million. That’s up from prior guidance of $515 million.
Advantage provides e-commerce, digital services and analytics to businesses such as Walmart, Amazon, Target, Kroger and PepsiCo.
The pandemic last year was a drag on the company’s marketing segment, particularly as it related to product samples given out to consumers inside stores. However, the company’s sales division, which includes e-commerce services, notched growth in the fourth quarter.
Advantage said it ended the fourth quarter with revenue down 16% from the year-ago period to $850.4 million. The company reported a net loss of $138.9 million in the quarter, compared to net income of $14.8 million a year earlier.
Advantage went public last year through a reverse merger with Naples, Fla.-based blank check company Conyers Park II Acquisition Corp.
