Chewy shares plummeted on Tuesday after protracted trading after the online retailer’s second-quarter results and third-quarter outlook fell short of Wall Street forecasts.
Shares fell more than 11% at one point, before getting some of the losses down about 9% at 5:30 p.m. in New York.
Chewy saw revenue rise nearly 27% year-over-year to $ 2.166 billion in the second quarter, but analysts expected sales of $ 2.202 billion, according to Refinitiv. The company also lost 4 cents per share, compared to estimates of a loss of 2 cents per share, according to Refinitiv.
Chewy’s sales guidelines in the third quarter, from $ 2.202 billion to $ 2222 million, were also slightly lighter than expected. According to StreetAccount, analysts projected $ 2.232 billion in third-quarter sales.
In an interview Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Chewy CEO Sumit Singh said he was not worried about falling shares in trading outside of business hours, and stressed that he was pleased with the quarter. and the future of the company. “We’re really bullish on the business,” he said.
Chewy has benefited from the coronavirus pandemic in two ways: an increase in online shopping in general and a booming business, as Americans spent more time at home, leading to increased adoption and spending. in animals.
Singh said the company’s growth rate was expected to moderate as the economy reopened and consumer spending returned to activities such as travel. For example, in the second quarter of last year, Chewy’s recorded a 47% year-over-year jump in sales, compared to a 27% increase in the most recent quarter.
While front-line revenue growth has slowed, Singh said other important metrics for the company are stronger than ever.
“Customer spending on our platform is at an all-time high,” Singh said. In the second quarter, Chewy’s net sales per active customer were $ 404, up 13.5% from the same period last year. Active customers of 20.1 million in the second quarter were 21.1% higher than in the second quarter of 2020.
“So what does that tell you? More customers. They spend more. They stay with us longer and we continue to offer very strong teams,” Singh said. “Overall, we are very pleased with the performance of the business and the way the teams operate in such a difficult environment.”