What happened
Shares of Waitr (WTRH +0.00%) are tanking today, down by 13% as of 12:45 p.m. EST, after the company reported third-quarter earnings. The results missed analyst expectations and stay-at-home stocks more generally have been under heavy selling pressure this week following yesterday's positive news about progress on a coronavirus vaccine.
So what
Revenue in the third quarter was $52.7 million, which was light compared to the consensus estimate of $54.1 million. That resulted in net income of $4.6 million, or $0.04 per share, while Wall Street analysts were modeling for $0.05 per share in profits. The food-delivery technology company reported adjusted EBITDA of $13 million. Waitr finished the quarter with over 2 million active diners and nearly 40,000 average daily orders.
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"Some of our restaurant partners have recently faced additional hardships arising from the overall macroeconomic challenges related to the ongoing pandemic as well as headwinds from several recent hurricanes that have hit the Southeast," CEO Carl Grimstad said in a statement. "We are working to help certain of these restaurant partners overcome these hardships in an attempt to return to a sense of normalcy during this tough time."
Now what
Waitr has been working to restructure its debt load and recently prepaid $10.5 million in exchange for a rate reduction and one-year extension of the maturity date. The company had approximately $80 million of cash on hand at the end of October.
Food-delivery platforms have seen increased engagement throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as people shifted from dining in restaurants to eating at home. While it may be a while until an effective vaccine is widely available, defeating the virus could result in decreased usage of those services. Waitr is looking to diversify its business and recently introduced new dine-in technology for restaurants.
