 "Instacart to cut 250 jobs as slowing ad biz counters upbeat Q1 forecast")
Instacart forecast on Tuesday its first-quarter gross transaction value (GTV) and core profit above estimates due to an uptick in grocery orders, and said it plans to cut 250 jobs, or 7 per cent of its workforce, to focus on "promising" initiatives.
Shares of Instacart reversed course to be down about 5 per cent after the bell following Instacart's lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue on slowing advertisement business.
As of June 30, Instacart had 3,486 employees, according to a regulatory filing.
"We are seeing (some weakness among advertisers) in pockets, but it is not widespread," said CEO Fidji Simo on a post-earnings call.
Ad and other revenues increased 7 per cent in thwae fourth quarter, compared with a 19 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
"Advertising business has slowed down," CFRA Research's Arun Sundaram said, adding that this would cause a bit of concern because it was historically a very fast growing and high-margin business for the company.
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Total revenue rose 6 per cent to $803 million, falling short of analysts' expectations of $804.2 million.
Transaction revenue growth slowed sequentially to 6 per cent, as Instacart offered more incentives and promotions to attract customers, especially during the holiday season, amid stiff competition from rivals such as DoorDash, UberEats, Amazon.com and Walmart.
Total orders rose 5 per cent to 70.1 million in the reported quarter as the grocery-delivery company also saw growth among its newer customer base.
The company expects current-quarter GTV - a key industry metric that shows the value of products sold based on prices shown on Instacart - to come between $8 billion and $8.2 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $7.92 billion.
It sees adjusted EBITDA between $150 million and $160 million, compared with analysts' estimates of $151.6 million, according to LSEG data.
The firm said it authorized an additional $500 million share repurchase program and expects to generate positive operating cash flow this year.