Shares of Groupon dipped by as much as 1.07%, falling as low as $7.37 per share after tonight’s earnings report
Groupon released its latest earnings report after closing bell tonight, posting adjusted earnings of 6 cents per share on revenue of $925.4 million, a 20% increase year over year. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 3 cents per share on $201.11 million in revenue. In the same quarter a year ago, Groupon reported revenue of $768.4 million.
Key metrics from Groupon’s earnings report
Reported earnings were 1 cent per share for the fourth quarter, compared to last year’s loss of 12 cents per share. Gross billings for the quarter were $2.1 billion, a 31% year over year increase. For the full year, gross billings were $7.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $87 million for the quarter and $253.4 million for the full year. Non-GAAP earnings per share for the full year were 8 cents, while GAAP losses for the full year were 11 cents per share.
Groupon reported more than 100 million global units (vouchers and products sold before cancellations and refunds”). The company said this was the first quarter in which it sold more than 100 million units. North America saw an 11% unit growth, while units increased 20% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 340% in the Rest of the World thanks to the Ticket Monster acquisition.
Groupon sees deals grow
As of the end of the fourth quarter, Groupon had about 370,000 active deals, compared to about 300,000 at the end of the previous quarters. The company saw a 23% increase in the number of active customers, and billings per average active customer rose from $149 in the third quarter to $155 in the fourth quarter.
Groupon reported nearly 110 million downloads of its app and said about 26% of all its transactions were related to search.
Groupon provides guidance
For the current quarter, Groupon expects to see earnings of between 0 cents and 2 cents per share and revenue of between $790 million and $840 million. The company expects a negative impact of about 500 basis points due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies. Groupon projects adjusted EBITDA for the current quarter to be between $45 million and $65 million.
For the full year, the company expects to see at least a 25% increase in adjusted EBITDA year over year, which would mean at least $315 million.
