Shares of Shopify Inc.
SHOP,
+4.36%
were sliding 15% in premarket trading Thursday after the e-commerce company fell short of expectations with its latest results and said it would spend $2.1 billion to acquire fulfillment-technology provider Deliverr. The company reported a first-quarter net loss of $1.5 billion, or $11.70 a share, versus net income of $1.3 billion, or $9.94 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Shopify’s performance on the metric in the latest quarter reflected $1.6 billion in net unrealized and realized losses on equity and other investments. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 20 cents a share, compared with $2.01 a share in the year-prior quarter. The FactSet consensus was for 64 cents in adjusted earnings per share. Shopify’s revenue increased to $1.20 billion from $989 million a year before, but analysts tracked by FactSet had been anticipating $1.24 billion. The company noted in its release that its first-quarter revenue was up against a year-earlier period that contained Shopify’s fastest quarterly revenue growth in its history as a public company. Shopify also announced that it has agreed to acquire fulfillment-technology company Deliverr in a deal valued at $2.1 billion that will consist of about 80% in cash and 20% in Class A subordinate voting shares of Shopify. “Our goal is to not only level the playing field for independent businesses, but tilt it in their favor – turning their size and agility into a superpower,” Shopify Chief Executive Tobi Lütke said in a release. “Together with Deliverr, Shopify Fulfillment Network will give millions of growing businesses access to a simple, powerful logistics platform that will allow them to make their customers happy over and over again.” Shares of Shopify have slid 45% over the past three months as the S&P 500
SPX,
+2.99%
has lost about 4%.