E-Commerce Retailer Etsy Reports 1Q Loss

Etsy shares sank more than 17 percent in aftermarket trading Tuesday, after its first earnings report as a publicly traded company showed a hefty quarterly loss due to costs related to restructuring and a tax provision.

Its net loss totaled $36.6 million, or 84 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported a loss of $463,000, or a penny per share.

Meanwhile, revenue jumped 44 percent, to $58.5 million from $40.5 million. Analysts had expected revenue of $58 million, according to FactSet. Revenue was boosted by growth in the fees the company charges for transactions and listings and sales of services like promoted listings and shipping labels it offers to sellers.

Active sellers rose 26 percent to 1.4 million, and active buyers jumped 37 percent to 20.8 million.

Etsy went public to much fanfare in April, with the stock nearly doubling from its IPO price on the first day of trading as investors clamored for a well-known name in the retail industry. But shares have declined over investor concerns about counterfeit goods being sold on the site.

New York-based Etsy did not give specific guidance for the second quarter, but said that if the dollar remains strong it could hurt buyer behavior outside the U.S. Etsy said it plans to increase its rate of hiring and spend more on marketing going forward.

At Tuesday’s close, the stock was about 31 percent above the $16 it was priced at when it went public, but down 41 percent from the stock’s high of $35.74.
In after-hours trading, the shares dropped $3.66, or 17.4 percent, to $17.34.

This article appeared in print in the May 20th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.