The Research Note Destroying LivePerson

In a report published Tuesday, Credit Suisse analysts downgraded the rating on

from Outperform to Neutral, while reducing the price target from $19 to $8. The analysts cited the loss of

as the main reason for the downward revisions. LivePerson reported its 1Q15 revenue at $59.8M, representing 25 percent y/y growth. The results missed the Street expectation of $60.8M, or 27.1 percent y/y growth). The company's EPS came in at $0.04, in-line with expectations. LivePerson guided to 2Q15 revenue of $58.5-59.5M, representing 14.5-16.5 percent growth, significantly short of the Street estimate of $63.9M, or 25 percent growth. The EPS guidance for the quarter was announced at $0.00-$0.02, which was also disappointing, with the Street projecting $0.06. The revenue estimates for 2015 and 2016 have been reduced from $268.2M to $245.2M and from $302.1M to $280.8M, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2015 and 2016 have been reduced from $0.29 to $0.12 and from $0.37 to $0.28, respectively. In the report Credit Suisse noted, "1Q15 was roughly in-line but mgmt was forced to lower their 2015 revenue guidance by $21M (-10% yr/yr at the midpt), mostly due to the loss of AT&T as a pay-for-performance chat customer, with the rest stemming from FX and a slow sales start to the yr; the reduction in 2015 revenue guidance was far larger than we had hoped it would be, and as a result, we estimate that LPSN's organic growth in 2015 will be <+10% in CC, causing us to downgrade the shares since we no longer believe that they will outperform."