Why it's happening: The Q2 results were also above Criteo's previous guidance provided three months ago, which called for revenue ex-TAC between 105 million euros and 107 million euros, and adjusted EBITDA between 18 million euros and 21 million euros. Note Criteo did not offer guidance for earnings per share at the time.
Criteo co-founder and CEO JB Rudelle insisted, "We believe we are well positioned to capture the massive opportunity ahead of us."
"We have successfully executed on our growth plans for seven quarters in a row," added Criteo CFO Benoit Fouilland, referring to Criteo's initial public offering in late 2013, "and we will continue to invest in 2015 to maximize our growth potential."
Likely contributing to today's declines are worries over recent developer documentation from Apple hinting the Cupertino-based tech giant might soon implement ad-blocking features in its mobile Safari browser. In an interview with Business Insider shortly after today's report, however, Criteo COO Eric Eichmann noted the documentation simply enables third-party developers to build ad-blocking extensions, which means users will likely need to take the extra step of installing a separate app to serve the purpose.
"It's a very obscure type of app," Eichmann explained, "... This is not something Apple will be pushing or something that will become mainstream. So we are not worried because these kinds of things in the past have been available and never made any in-roads." What's more, Eichmann argued a built-in ad blocker for Safari mobile would damage Apple's ecosystem, as "many of these apps exist not because Apple pays them money, but because a lot of them are ad-supported."
All things considered, it appears to me Criteo is being unduly punished for what's otherwise another solid quarter.