Groupon Plunges On Q4 Miss, Exit From Goods, Focus On Experiences, Proposed Reverse Stock Split

Groupon Inc GRPN reported fourth-quarter earnings of 7 cents per share Tuesday, missing the analyst consensus estimate of 15 cents by 53.33%.

This is a 30% decrease over earnings of 10 cents per share in the same period last year.

The e-commerce platform reported quarterly sales of $612.3 million, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $709.35 million by 13.68%. This is a 23.46% decrease over sales of $799.927 million in the same period last year.

Groupon's board has approved a reverse stock split at a ratio between 1-for-10 and 1-for-12, the company said. The proposal will be submitted to stockholders at the company's annual meeting in June. 

The stock split is expected to be effective by the end of the second quarter, according to Tuesday's press release.

Groupon announced that Valerie Mosley, chairwoman and CEO of Valmo Ventures, LLC, and Helen Vaid, global chief customer officer for Pizza Hut, are being appointed to the board of directors effective April 6.

The company will also exit the Goods category.

“We believe this plan will allow us to devote the focused execution necessary to take share in the growing local experiences market. This market, which we estimate to be north of $1 trillion, is highly fragmented, growing, and migrating quickly from offline to online. Currently, we are a market leader, yet we have less than 1% market share,” CEO Rich Williams said in a statement.

Groupon shares, which closed Tuesday's regular session up 7.77% at $3.05, were halted after hours pending the company news. The stock fell 22.95% to $2.35 after resuming after-hours trading at 4:30 p.m.

The stock has a 52-week high of $3.82 and a 52-week low of $2.17.

Related Link: WSJ: Groupon Eyeing M&A, Yelp Could Be The Target

Photo courtesy of Groupon.

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