Yelp shares climbed Friday, trading up 7.79% to $26.99, extending gains following the local business review platform's second-quarter earnings report, which beat Wall Street expectations on both revenue and profit while highlighting rapid growth in the company's newer AI-powered products.

The results, released Thursday after markets closed, showed Yelp continuing to navigate a challenging advertising environment for its core local business listings while leaning increasingly on artificial intelligence-driven services to offset slower growth in its traditional revenue streams.

A Solid Beat Across the Board

Yelp reported second-quarter revenue of $375.5 million, up 1.4% from the same period a year earlier and comfortably ahead of the roughly $366.7 million analysts had been expecting heading into the report. On a per-share basis, the company posted GAAP earnings of 57 cents, beating the consensus estimate by 56.7%, while adjusted earnings came in at 62 cents per share, topping the 40-cent forecast by 22 cents.

The revenue beat came even as growth decelerated from the 3.7% year-over-year increase Yelp posted in the same quarter a year earlier, reflecting continued softness in the company's core advertising business even as overall results exceeded the relatively modest expectations analysts had set heading into the report.

AI-Powered Services Provide a Bright Spot

The standout theme in Yelp's results centered on the rapid growth of its newer artificial intelligence-driven revenue streams, a category the company groups under "other revenue" that includes its Yelp........

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