Why CoStar Group Stock Dropped 5.2% This Morning

Shares of CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) had tumbled by 5.2% through noon ET Wednesday after the real estate information provider delivered a fourth-quarter report after the close Tuesday that missed analysts' earnings estimates.

Ahead of the report, analysts had forecast CoStar would earn $0.36 per share on sales of $576 million. But in fact, CoStar earned only $0.31 per share on sales of $573 million -- and guided lower to boot.  

Sales grew 13% year over year at CoStar Group during the quarter -- par for the course in a year when total sales grew by 12% to $2.2 billion. And although investors seem disappointed by the fact that CoStar didn't hit Wall Street's earnings target, what CoStar did accomplish was pretty impressive. Quarterly sales grew 34% year over year to $0.93 per share -- a significant acceleration from the year-long total earnings growth of 26%.  

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Source Fool.com