What happened

Progyny (NASDAQ: PGNY), the employer-sponsored fertility benefits manager that went public at the end of October, filed its first earnings report as a public company on Wednesday. The announcement that it beat earnings and sales estimates helped to lift its stock nearly 6% in Thursday trading, and today, Progyny is up once again -- this time, adding 12.5% through 2:15 p.m. EST on Friday.

We haven't written anything about Progyny just yet here at The Motley Fool, but between the earnings report and the stock surge that followed, now seems like a good time to take a look.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

So what did Progyny have to say on Wednesday? Starting on the top line, sales surged 120% year over year to $61.2 million, eclipsing analyst predictions of $60.8 million along the way.

Progyny didn't earn any actual GAAP profit on those sales, losing $1.10 per share instead. But the company nonetheless boasted that its adjusted profits were $0.03 per share, excluding charges taken in connection with the IPO and the conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into common stock.

By that metric, analysts were hoping to see Progyny report at least $0.02 per share -- so despite the GAAP loss, investors seem to be viewing this result as a beat.

Now what

Can Progyny keep the beats coming in Q4 and beyond? Maybe, maybe not. Management forecast sales between $65 million and $66.5 million for the year's final quarter, and taken at the midpoint, that works out to perhaps $65.7 million or so in sales. Wall Street had been hoping to see something more like $66 million or better, though. So for now at least, it looks like Progyny is aiming to underperform expectations in Q4.

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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.