JohnCM
2 years ago
LivePerson cut to Hold at Needham as guidance disappoints
Feb. 25, 2022
By:Preeti Singh, SA News
LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) shares have plummeted 36.94% pre-market after the tech firm reported its Q4 financial results Thursday (Feb 24, 2022).
Q4 revenue grew 21% Y/Y to $123.8M, and was within the upper half of the company's guidance range. The company signed seven seven-figure deals and 107 deals in the quarter, comprising 27 new and 80 existing customer contracts.
Business operations revenue and consumer operations revenue each grew 21% Y/Y to $114.1M and $9.8M, respectively.
However, LivePerson incurred losses, with Q4 adjusted operating loss totaling $11.4M, vs. $12.6M income in Q420. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was -$4.4M as compared to $18.2M in the prior year quarter.
Following the results, Needham downgraded LivePerson to a Hold rating, citing a FY22 revenue outlook weighed down by growth headwinds related to the company's gainshare and Bella Health offerings.
Needham analyst Ryan MacDonald said: "Investors are likely to come away frustrated by the poor outlook and shift in strategy only 2 quarters after LPSN outlined its intent to invest incrementally to accelerate revenue growth in FY22. While we like the shift towards more profitable growth, we expect the stock to be in the penalty box in the near term while management works to rebuild investor trust through consistent quarterly execution of this new strategy."
LivePerson has guided to a FY22 revenue range of $544.8M- $563.3M, up 16% to 20% Y/Y (vs consensus $595.12M). For Q122, it expects revenue in the range of $124.6M- $126.8M, up 15.5% to 17.5% Y/Y (vs. consensus $131.71M). The company also issued an adj. EBITDA guidance range of -$20M to $0.0M for FY22.
JohnCM
4 years ago
ALERT!!
The NASDAQ is very overbought. QQQ RSI(14) = 76. There WILL be a correction. Protect your positions with STOPS. One suggestion is this. If you have huge gains already, take 10 to 15 percent off the table and keep in CASH or something liquid.
The contrarian play is to short the NASDAQ. SQQQ now $22.00 March of this year it was $161.35. You will make bank over a 3 day period until the NASDAQ bottoms.
Use a trailing stop, but at least a spread of 10 percent. You are giving away a possible 10 percent for the safety of not having 15, 20 or 25 percent wiped out. A 20 percent drop in the NASDAQ would be 11,969 β 20% = 9,575
We were at 9,575 June 7th, a short 80 days ago.
Why is the NASDAQ overbought?
#1. Interest rates are at all time lows. Investors seek yield. Both real estate and the stock market are yielding great returns right now.
#2. The NASDAQ is technology heavy. That is, less brick and mortar and more βwork and shop from homeβ solutions.
#3. Trend is your friend, until it tells you otherwise.
#4. The above 3 market conditions point to a higher NASDAQ except for one thing. Prices have become very frothy, very overbought, greed, herd mentality, momentum. All things which are part of the human psyche yet not based on company fundamentals ( see the explosive gains in APPL and TSLA after news of forward splits).