Farfetch shares plunge despite revenue rise and Q3 profitability

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 19, 2021

Investors are usually very forgiving of tech firms when they spend years grappling to achieve the kind of profitability they’d like, but they weren’t forgiving Farfetch on Thursday as the firm’s shares plummeted 22% in after-hours trading. That was due to the release of its Q3 results report that missed expectations.

Not that the report was actually a bad one. The company said it earned $769 million in net profit in the quarter, up from from a loss of $537 million a year ago. However, the latest figure included a $901 million non-cash one-off benefit.

Revenue rose 33% to $583 million. But analysts had expected revenue to hit around $591 million and didn’t like the fact that the gross profit margin dropped due to higher costs.

But the company itself seemed upbeat and ignoring the market reaction and looking just at the figures, it’s clear that the group is continuing to build a massive share of the luxury fashion market.

In the three months to the end of September, gross merchandise value (GMV) rose 28% to $1.017 billion from a year earlier and was more than double the figure of two years ago. Gross profit was $252 million, up from $209 million, while the gross profit margin dropped to 43.3% from 47.8%. As well as that net profit figure mentioned earlier, adjusted EBITDA was $5.3 million after a loss of $10.3 million a year earlier. 

The company also said that Digital Platform GMV rose to $828 million from $674 million, with its gross profit up to $159 million from $143 million. Marketplace average order value rose to $593 from $574 as the number of active customers also surged. 

Digital Platform GMV growth on a two-year basis also “accelerated sequentially from 89% in Q2 2021 to 97% in Q3 2021, led by key luxury markets including the United States, Mainland China, United Kingdom, Middle East, Germany and Russia, which more than doubled in two years”.

The company continued to be boosted by linking with top brands for initiatives such as ‘The Language of Prada’, highlighting Prada’s new collection (the first of a two-part partnership), as well as Balenciaga, Miu Miu (a “first-time partner”) Dolce & Gabbana and Moncler.

Meanwhile, its Brand Platform GMV and revenue were both up to $165 million from $112 million and gross profit rose to $80 million from $58 million.

The company said its New Guards Group offer continued to progress with Off-White and Palm Angels being within the top 10 brands on the Farfetch Marketplace.

José Neves, Farfetch Founder, Chairman and CEO, was upbeat and talked of “Farfetch’s continued track record of delivering aggressive market share capture, and [we] remain on track to achieve our goal of full year Adjusted EBITDA profitability and GMV growth above our long-term 30% CAGR target”.

He also said the business is “seeing strong industry traction behind our platform strategy. Over 1,400 brands and retailers are not only listing more luxury products than ever, but also driving record media solutions revenue in recognition of our highly valuable customers. And with accelerating interest in our Luxury New Retail vision, Farfetch Platform Solutions is shaping up to revolutionise the digitisation of the luxury experience and unlock significant potential for Farfetch”.