Stocks shot up 18% after a report that Groupon had slayed expectations from The Street to post its first quarterly profit. Better decisions on marketing spends and an increase in customers and merchants were the trigger point that marked the first real turn after a disastrous start.
The company has been plagued by accounting issues and bad press surrounding their inexperienced CEO Andrew Mason. Now, then “humbled” Mason is making sound decisions, pushing for mobile expansion as well as growth overseas.
“Revenue growth was impressive and they also had material margin expansion,” said The Benchmark Company analyst Clayton Moran. “There are no signs of competitive pressure in this report. The take rate of 41 percent is very encouraging. Investor fears around competition and sustainability have been overdone.”
Last week, the stock closed at $9.90. Yesterday’s after-hours rally has it opening at $13.83 today.