NEW YORK (AP) — Blue Apron posted strong revenue growth in its second quarter, but scaled down marketing efforts and a sequential decline in customers has investors jittery.
Shares of the meal kit seller, which provided its first earnings report since becoming a public company, plunged more than 18 percent in early morning trading on Thursday.
Blue Apron, which went public in June, reported a 23 percent increase in customers from the prior-year period but a 9 percent drop from the first quarter due to a planned reduction in marketing.
Marketing expenses came to $34.5 million in the second quarter, down sharply from the $60.6 million of the first quarter.
Total revenue for the period ended June 30 rose to $238.1 million from $201.9 million. That's better than the $235.8 million that analysts surveyed by FactSet predicted.
But Blue Apron has many rivals, including HelloFresh and Plated, and there are concerns that competition to deliver groceries to people's doorsteps will only heat up after e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. announced plans to buy organic grocer Whole Foods. In some cities, Amazon already sells meal kits with recipes created by home goods mogul Martha Stewart.
Blue Apron Holdings Inc. lost $31.6 million, or 47 cents per share, in the quarter. A year earlier the New York-based company earned $5.5 million, or breakeven per share. Wall Street forecast a loss of 27 cents per share.
The company, which was founded five years ago, has yet to make a profit. It reported a loss of $55 million last year, but its sales have soared. Blue Apron posted revenue of $795.4 million for 2016, more than double its level the year before.
Last month Blue Apron said that one of its co-founders, Matthew Wadiak was stepping down from his role as chief operating officer and would become a senior adviser to the company.
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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on APRN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/APRN
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Keywords: BLUE APRON HLDG, Earnings Report