What happened Shares of online car-buying service TrueCar (NASDAQ: TRUE) were sharply higher on Friday after a strong second-quarter earnings report and upbeat guidance for the year. As of 12:00 p.m. EDT, TrueCar's shares were trading at $13.38, up 17.5% from Thursday's closing price. So what TrueCar reported its second-quarter earnings on Thursday afternoon, and there was a lot for investors to like. Adjusted net income rose to $3.2 billion, nearly triple the company's year-ago result, on a 7% increase in revenue driven by a nice jump in income per sale. Image source: TrueCar. In fact, all of TrueCar's key operating metrics were up year over year, a sign that CEO Chip Kelly has the company back on course after a rough patch. Another sign: Its guidance for the third quarter and full year calls for more improvements. TrueCar's adjusted after-tax result met Wall Street's expectations, and investors clearly liked what they heard from management during the earnings call. Now what As noted above, TrueCar's results for both the third quarter and full year continued to be upbeat. For both periods, the company expects to soundly beat its year-ago revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and total number of vehicles purchased via its service. 10 stocks we like better than TrueCarWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and TrueCar wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 6, 2018John Rosevear has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends TrueCar. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.