Post date: May 09, 2013 11:36:32 AM
Reuters Business Report - Could Groupon finally be getting its groove on?
The daily deals site's earnings came in better than forecasts- sending its stock higher in after hours trading Wednesday.
It was a relief. By all accounts, Groupon stock has been a disaster. Since its debut in November of 2011 with an IPO price of $20- its lost more than 70 percent of its value.
JOE BROWN, NEW YORK EDITOR, WIRED:"Right now the bleeding has been stopped but we need to see going forward if they are actually going to heal Groupon and turn it into something that is healthy and has something to offer to a marketplace that is very crowded."
This past quarter, North American revenues surged 42 percent- though international business has been down.
And 45% of Groupon's North American transactions came from mobile.
And more than 7 million people downloaded Groupon's apps last quarter.
JOE BROWN, NEW YORK EDITOR, WIRED:
"The question I have is whether or not that is true mobile or whether that's just someone using their iPad in their living room because the iPad does show up as amobile device and that's not what mobile means. Mobile means the company gets me when I'm out in the world. It gets me away from my regular routine, and gets me in the moment to make a purchase that i wouldn't ordinarily make."
Groupon has been expanding beyond daily deals- with business lines like Groupon Goods- which offers discounts on products.
And Groupon does have the advantage of more than a billion dollars of cash on its books- which gives new management a few options:
JOE BROWN, NEW YORK EDITOR, WIRED:
"They could also make an interesting acquisition and that would be something cool if they got a company a smaller comapany who really understood the mobile space better and could add something to Groupon that maybe someone else who is competing with Groupon doesn't understand yet."
The daily deals site is still trying to find a new permanent CEO. It fired founder Andrew Mason after the company's last dismal earnings.