Wunderlich Sees Q1 Revenue Beat For Groupon Inc.

Groupon Inc.

will beat revenue expectations by a small margin when it posts first-quarter results after the bell, an analyst said Monday. Wunderlich's Blake T. Harbor said Groupon will post stronger growth in its North American business while foreign exchange headwinds continue to hurt results in Europe, where the company last year derived 30 percent of revenue. Groupon, off nearly 14 percent in the year to date, changed hands recently at $7.12, up nearly 5 percent. Harbor forecast first-quarter revenue for Groupon of $828.7 million, up 9 percent from a year earlier. Wall Street expects first-quarter revenue of $817.46 million. Harbor's adjusted earnings forecast of $0.01 cent a share for Groupon is in line with the Wall Street consensus. Groupon in February had forecast first-quarter results of between break-even and earnings of $0.02 cents a share on revenue of $790 million to $840 million. Groupon agreed last month to sell a controlling 46 percent interest in Korean e-commerce company Ticket Monster for $360 million, to KKR and Hong Kong-based Anchor Equity Partners. Groupon acquired Ticket Monster in January 2014 for $260 million in cash and stock. The Ticket Monster deal will help Groupon reach "double digit margins" in the second half of 2015 for its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, Harbor said. In March Harbor upgraded Groupon to Buy, citing favorable results of a U.S. customer survey.