PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.20 EPS

PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.20), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $35.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.00 million. PetMed Express had a negative return on equity of 91.69% and a negative net margin of 17.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from PetMed Express’ conference call:

• Second-quarter sales fell 19.4% year over year to $35.8 million, primarily due to declining prescription medication sales and higher promotional usage. Gross profit declined to $9.8 million, with gross margin slipping to 27.4% amid unfavorable product mix and lower manufacturer rebates.
• The net loss narrowed to $6.4 million from $8.5 million a year ago, helped by lower administrative and advertising costs, but adjusted EBITDA worsened to a $3.6 million loss from a $2.3 million loss. The company had $11.4 million in cash and no debt at quarter-end.
• Customer acquisition costs fell to $51, down 32% year over year and 15% from the prior quarter; PetMeds acquired 41,000 new customers. Management said it sees further opportunities to improve marketing efficiency and customer retention.
• New CEO Jeff Willard is prioritizing a turnaround of the core online pharmacy through brand repositioning, a simpler website checkout, a more curated non-pharmacy assortment, and greater emphasis on generics. He described rebuilding customer relationships as a multi-year effort and aims to make the business profitable at its current size before growing.
• PetMeds has expanded its white-label pharmacy partnerships, adding Pet Supermarket after launching with Rural King in July. Management sees these partnerships as another way to reach pet owners and extend the pharmacy platform.

PetMed Express Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:PETS traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1.21. 123,067 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,057. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.06. The firm has a market cap of $26.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.88 and a beta of 0.82. PetMed Express has a fifty-two week low of $1.15 and a fifty-two week high of $4.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PETS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded PetMed Express from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PetMed Express from $2.15 to $1.40 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of PetMed Express from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PetMed Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $1.40.

About PetMed Express

PetMed Express, Inc., doing business as PetMeds, is an online retailer of prescription and nonprescription medications and health products for dogs, cats and other household pets. The company offers products used to treat or prevent conditions such as allergies, infections, parasites and chronic illnesses, including prescription medicines, flea and tick treatments, heartworm preventatives, supplements and other animal-health products. In addition to medications, PetMeds sells pet food, treats, vitamins, wellness products and selected supplies.