Blue Apron is soaring after saying it will reaffirm confidence in achieving profitability
- Blue Apron said Tuesday it plans to reaffirm confidence in turning a profit in both the first quarter and fiscal year 2019 when it reports Q4 results later this month.
- The meal-kit maker has had difficulty retaining customers in the past.
- Blue Apron shares were up more than 11% early Tuesday.
- Watch Blue Apron trade live.
Blue Apron was surging Tuesday morning, up more than 11%, after the company said it plans to reaffirm confidence in achieving profitability next year when it releases its fourth-quarter and full-year results later this month.
"Based on its current view of the business, Blue Apron plans to reaffirm confidence in achieving profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis both in the first quarter of 2019 and for full year 2019 as it actively pursues the appropriate strategies to create value for its stakeholders," the company said in a press release out Tuesday.
Wall Street analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were less confident, forecasting an adjusted loss of $0.09 a share in Q1 and $0.32 a share for fiscal year 2019.
Blue Apron has had a rough go of things since announcing plans to go public in June 2017. First, Amazon announced plans to buy Whole Foods, causing Blue Apron to slash its IPO range to $10 to $11 a share, down from $15 to $17, as investors worried about the competition such a deal would bring. Then, less than a month later, Amazon rolled out its meal-kit business.
And in August of last year, Blue Apron announced it was having trouble keeping customers. The meal-kit maker said its total number of customers plunged by 24% in the second quarter versus the prior year and that revenue per customer dipped by $1 to $250.
Blue Apron shares had a difficult 2018. They cratered by as much as 84%, falling below $1 for the first time and putting in a record low of $0.65. They finished the year at $1.02.
Blue Apron was expected to report an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of $0.17 a share on revenue of $137.78 million when it reports on January 31, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
