Impinj shares cratered Thursday after the the Seattle-based maker of radio frequency identification tags reported its quarterly earnings.
Impinj reported non-GAAP earnings of 6 cents per share on $34.1 million in revenue in the second quarter, both above analyst expectations. But the company dropped its guidance for how many items will be tagged using its tracking chips in 2017 from 7.8 to 8 billion down to 7 to 7.2 items. The revised number represents an 18 percent increase over this time last year.
On the company’s quarterly earnings call, Impinj CEO Chris Diorio said the change has to do with several large companies delaying their rollouts of RFID products. Diorio did not name the customers, but he said they still plan to deploy Impinj products but the rollout has been delayed due to scheduling slips on their end.
Diorio urged investors on the earnings call to be patient and look at the long-term, where Impinj sees huge companies tagging millions or even billions of items using its technology.
“We are learning in real time the dynamics of leading a nascent but gigantic opportunity, engaging large end users who can set the adoption pace for their industry and help grow our opportunity to its long-term potential,” Diorio said on the call. “And our focus remains that gigantic opportunity, that macro trend of connecting businesses and people to everyday items. So expect us to continue driving hard to accelerate and win every opportunity in every vertical we pursue, competing relentlessly with and at every layer of our platform, and investing in the people, platform and solutions that drive scale and long-term value.”
Impinj stock is down about 20 percent in after-hours trading, a slight recovery from being down 25 percent after the earnings report was released. Despite today’s drop, Impinj stock is up 145 percent since it went public last year.
Diorio said the company ended the quarter with 283 employees.
