What happened
Blue Apron (APRN) shareholders beat the market on Thursday as shares soared higher by over 20% at 12 p.m. ET. The stock settled down to a roughly 9% gain by 3 p.m. ET but was still tracking well ahead of the broader market's 0.7% increase.
The home-meal specialist set the timing for its fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings report. The stock likely benefited, as well, from increased demand on Wall Street for growth stocks that have fallen far from all-time highs in recent weeks.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Management said in an early morning press release that Blue Apron will issue its Q4 results on Feb. 10. While that's no surprise, the move did seem to shift the focus toward the company's operating results, which have been mixed lately.
Blue Apron notched just a 2% revenue increase in the quarter that ended in late September, although sales were up a more impressive 10%, compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019. Average order spending rose to a record at over $62. However, the company is enduring a growth hangover that's showing up in declines in both the customer base and the volume of orders it's handling.
Now what
Thursday's press release means that investors will have a much better understanding of those growth trends on Feb. 10. Heading into that Q4 earnings announcement, Wall Street is looking for sales gains to accelerate as Blue Apron pours more cash into marketing and prioritizes growth, in part thanks to a successful cash raise in late 2021.
The stock's recent gains should be considered temporary until investors see firm evidence that this approach is allowing Blue Apron to return to significant volume growth without sacrificing too much in the way of profitability.
