What happened
Shares of Box (BOX -1.10%) slumped 10.7% in October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The sell-off occurred in conjunction with a pullback for the broader market.
A surge in new coronavirus cases once again complicated the global economic outlook, and many growth-dependent tech stocks saw substantial dips in November. Box's double-digit slide last month followed an 11.6% decline for the company's share price in September.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Box stock popped after the company posted better-than-expected second-quarter results at the end of August, but it wasn't able to hold on to those gains. While there wasn't much in the way of business-specific news driving the pullback for the company's share price last month, it looks like investors and analysts are becoming less optimistic about growth opportunities for pure-play companies in the cloud content management and file sharing market. Box's competitor Dropbox has also seen a wave of significant sell-offs, with its share price down roughly 20% over the last three months.
Now what
Box stock has regained some ground early in November's trading. The company's share price has climbed roughly 5% in the month amid momentum for the broader market.
Box is set to report third-quarter earnings after the market closes on Dec. 1. The company is guiding for sales between $193 million and $195 million in the quarter, representing growth of roughly 10% year over year at the midpoint of the target. Adjusted earnings per share for the period are expected to be between $0.13 and $0.15
For the full-year period, management is targeting sales between $757 million and $770 million, good for growth of roughly 10% at the midpoint of the target. Adjusted earnings per share are projected to be between $0.56 and $0.60, and the company anticipates an adjusted operating margin between 12% and 13%.
Box has a market capitalization of roughly $2.6 billion and trades at roughly 28 times this year's expected earnings.
