Zulily exceeded the high-end of its estimates, reporting this afternoon that sales in the first quarter totaled $237.9 million, an increase of 87 percent.
It also raised full-year revenue guidance slightly, expecting revenues to now fall between $1.15 billion and $1.2 billion.
Still, investors reacted negatively to the results, pushing the stock lower after the numbers came out. After the bell, shares tumbled more than 19 percent, or $8.89, to $37 a share.
The Seattle-based online discounter of products for moms and kids, released the company’s second quarterly report since raising since raising $140 million in a public offering last November.
Zulily’s first quarter as a public company was a strong one with holiday sales resulting in 100 percent year over year growth. Sales in Q4 totaled $257 million. It’s not clear if investors were expecting it to be able to match that in the first quarter, but that’s typically unrealistic since the beginning of the year is typically slower for retailers.
Instead, investors are likely being more critical of the company’s bottomline.
The company’s Q1 loss fell within its expected range, totaling $2.95 million, but it was wider than the year ago period’s net loss of $1.6 million. On a non-GAAP basis, the company said its Q1 net loss in was 2 cents a share, which was wider than the year ago period’s net loss of 1 cent. Analysts were expecting a break-even quarter.
“This year has started off with strong revenue and active customer growth” said Darrell Cavens, CEO of zulily. “These results highlight that our team’s efforts to deliver a diverse offering of new products every day at a great value resonates with our customers. We remain obsessed about changing the way people shop by giving them an experience they can’t find elsewhere.”
Other highlights:
- Active customers grew to 3.7 million by the end of Q1 2014, an increase of 93 percent year over year.
- Total orders placed increased to 5.5 million in Q1, an increase of 91 percent year over year.
- Net sales are expected to be between $261.0 and $276 million, representing an increase of 80 to 90 percent year over year.
- Net loss or income is expected to be between a loss of $2 million and a profit of $3 million.
