Kayak turned a year-ago loss into a nearly $4.1 million profit during the first quarter of 2012 and saw downloads of its mobile apps soar 43%.
In the latest update today to its IPO-related S-1/A statement, Kayak reported first quarter net income of some $4.1 million compared with a $6.9 million net loss in the first quarter of 2011.
Operating income in the first quarter was $8.1 million compared with an operating loss of $12 million during the same period in 2011.
And, if you exclude a $15 million impairment charge related to discontinued use of its SideStep brand, then operating income in the first quarter would have risen 174%, Kayak says.
And, Kayak saw its first quarter revenue jump 39% to $73.3 million.
On the mobile front, Kayak recorded 3 million downloads of its mobile apps during the first quarter, and that amounts to a 43% increase when measured against downloads during the first quarter of 2011.
Since Kayak introduced mobile apps in March 2009, they've been downloaded more than 15 million times, Kayak says.
Some of these gains were propelled by marketing initiatives and the company's marketing costs climbed nearly 45% to $41.2 million during the first quarter.
What does it all mean?
Kayak hopes it all shows momentum and growth -- enough to get its hoped-for IPO out of the starting blocks, where it has languished since November 2010.
Some observers speculate that although Facebook's looming IPO obviously represents a much different business proposition than Kayak's, all of the accompanying IPO hoopla can't hurt Kayak's prospects.
According to this line of reasoning, you can consider Kayak and the social network Facebook friends.