What happened
Food delivery service Waitr Holdings (WTRH -9.09%) reported earnings Thursday evening, and investors weren't overly happy with the company's bottom-line results. As of 2 p.m. EDT Friday, its shares traded down 15% versus Thursday's closing price.
So what
The company's bottom line didn't change from the same period one year ago, with a loss of $0.03 per share. Even once Waitr adjusted results to remove some one-time and nonrecurring items, an adjusted net income of $0.01 per share missed analyst estimates of $0.02.
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Now what
Waitr's revenue increased 15% compared with the prior-year period, and the company completed the acquisition of Florida-based Delivery Dudes during the first quarter. Waitr Chairman and CEO Carl Grimstad said in a statement, "We are pleased with our financial results for the first quarter of 2021, as we continued to grow our revenue and generate positive operating cash flow."
But investors weren't as pleased. Active diners remained at 2 million as of March 31, 2021, unchanged from three months prior. And average daily orders declined by almost 4% compared with the average for the full year 2020.
Waitr was founded in 2013 and has focused on underserved delivery markets, tying consumers' food demand with local restaurants. In March 2021, the company announced it will be partnering with payment processing company Flow Payments to create a cannabis delivery and payment processing service for legal marijuana dispensaries. Investors aren't happy with results from the current business model. Unless or until a catalyst arrives from the cannabis sector, investors may not see a meaningful recovery in the stock.
