(Photo Credit: Groupon Events)
Groupon (GRPN), a global leader of local commerce, is set to release its second quarter financial results tomorrow morning. Currently, the Estimize community of 78 analysts, Wall Street, and guidance are predicting an EPS figure of $0.02. Last quarter, EPS grew 400% from the same quarter the year prior. Estimize are also predicting higher revenues of $756.17M relative to Wall Street's $753.94M consensus. Guidance is set lower at $725M, but for the last six quarters, GRPN's earnings have beat guidance.
After beating analyst expectations for the last three quarters and guidance for the last six, Groupon looks to continue the trend. Groupon's share price has sharply declined since the beginning of the year, leaving the company dirt cheap from a historical perspective. So is this the perfect time to buy due to the depressed levels, or will this negative trend just continue next quarter? With that question in mind, let's take a closer look at the financials for the upcoming quarter.
Ever since Groupon sold a majority stake in its Ticket Monster unit, the share price has shot down by over 40%, from $8.18 in April to $4.82 right now. The market was expecting more from this deal, and as a result of it, total revenues have decreased. However, the balance sheet has only gotten stronger, and the company is now in a more advantageous cash position. Growing revenues is absolutely essential in developing Groupon further which is already currently growing at a 10% pace, and expected to continue this growth trend moving forward. With this new cash at hand, the company is looking into several investment opportunities, in addition to its recent purchase of OrderUp, a food delivery service. Following the acquisition of OrderUp in July, Groupon announced Groupon To Go, its nationwide delivery and takeout service. This program will exist in Chicago, and then expand to Austin and Boston this fall.
Also important is the company's $300M buyback program over the past year, with $83M still remaining under the first program. The company announced that with the $300M buyback program expiring this year, the Board already approved a new $300M share repurchase program. Groupon has also expanded into mobile, as 50% of all transactions now come from mobile devices. Moreover, active customers, monthly unique visitors, active deals and search traffic continues to grow.