Groupon Shares Lower Despite Q1 Bottom-Line Beat, Inline Outlook

Shares of Groupon

are down by about six percent in Tuesday's after-hours trading session as the company announced results for the first quarter of 2014. Revenue grew 26 percent year over year to $757.6 million; analysts were looking for sales of $738.4 million. The bottom-line figure -- moving in the opposite direction as revenue -- fell to a loss of $0.06 per share, versus a loss of $0.01 per share for the same quarter last year. Adjusting for certain items, Groupon reported an adjusted loss of $0.01 per share. The analyst consensus estimate was at a loss of $0.03 per share. The company's Eric Lefkofsky said, "We had a record quarter in terms of demand, with worldwide billings increasing 29% and reaching their highest level ever. Our marketplace continued to gain traction and growth in our mobile business accelerated, with more than 10 million app downloads this quarter and mobile transactions reaching 54% in March. “We're on track with our plans in 2014 to invest in the growth of Local, improve our Goods margins, and drive profitability in our International operations. As a result, we have further confidence in our results for the back half of the year, and have increased our full year outlook,” according to the Groupon CEO. Groupon cited accelerated growth from investment to the boosted full-year outlook. For the upcoming quarter, the company expects sales between $725 million and $775 million with EBITDA between $45 Million and $65 million. Revenue for the second quarter of 2013 was $608.7 million. For the fiscal year, Groupon is looking for adjusted EBITDA to come in over $300 million. About an hour and a half after the report was released, Groupon shares are trading down to $6.32.