Stamps.com stock down on lower '07 guidance
Shares of Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) slid on heavy volume in after-hours trading today after the Los Angeles, Calif.,-based provider of Internet-based postage services announced it would likely miss earnings expectations for fiscal 2007.
Also today, the company posted revenue of $20 million for the first quarter ended March 31 compared with $20.5 million in the same period last year. Four analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting revenue of $21.6 million.
Earnings per share of $0.14, however, were in line with the analyst expectations.
Looking ahead, Stamps.com said it currently expects total fiscal 2007 revenue to be $87 to $97 million and fiscal 2007 GAAP net income per share to be $0.67 to $0.77, including approximately $2.4 million of stock-based compensation expense.
Analysts had estimated earnings per share of $0.86 on revenue of $95.5 million for the year.
Stamps.com’s stock was down by $1.25, or 8%, to $14.10 in after-hours trading – close to its 52-week-low of 13.80, which was reached on Jan. 19, 2007. It hit its 52-week-high of 39.24 on April 24, 2006.
More than 633,300 shares had changed hands by 7:15 p.m. ET, compared with a three-month average daily volume of about 244,000 shares.
Stamps.com CEO Ken McBride noted a “very large increase” in the firm’s first quarter sales and marketing investment in its PC Postage business line. And although the company ramped its marketing spending on its PhotoStamps line, the momentum did not meet the company’s expectations, he said.
“While we expect to ramp marketing spend in the second quarter and beyond,” added McBride, “we do feel that we are facing a tougher challenge with PhotoStamps growth this year than we did last year.”
