What happened
Shares of Marqeta (MQ 4.05%) were tumbling this morning after the payments processing company reported its second-quarter results. While those results beat analysts' top- and bottom-line estimates, investors instead worried about Marqeta's announcement that it's looking for a new CEO.
The fintech stock was down by 23.7% as of 11:12 a.m. ET.
So what
Marqeta reported a non-GAAP (adjusted) loss per share of $0.08 in the quarter, which was a huge improvement over the loss per share of $0.29 in the year-ago quarter and ahead of analysts' average estimate of a loss of $0.10.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company's second-quarter sales were also strong, with revenue climbing 53% year over year to $187 million -- which was good enough to beat Wall Street's consensus estimate of $180 million for the quarter.
But investors mostly ignored the company's financial results and instead focused their attention on the fact that Marqeta's founder and CEO, Jason Gardner, announced on the company's earnings call that he's stepping down from his role.
Gardner will help assist the company in searching for a new CEO and will assume the executive chairman position once a new CEO is found.
"When we went public in 2021, I promised to hand leadership to the best person at the appropriate time. After thoughtful consideration of what the next phase of growth will require, I've concluded that now is the time to begin the search for this person," Gardner said on the call.
Now what
Investors typically react strongly to a CEO's departure, and Gardner's announcement was even more jarring because he's Marqeta's founder.
Additionally, the company said its chief operating officer, Vidya Peters, is also leaving the company. Marqeta's chief product officer, Simon Khalaf, is assuming her role on an interim basis.
With Marqeta's management team currently going through a massive transition, it's no surprise the company's stock is plummeting today.
