ChargePoint (ticker: CHPT) late Wednesday reported a loss per share of 24 cents on revenue of $150.5 million. A year ago, ChargePoint reported a loss of 19 cents a share on revenue of $108.3 million.
“ChargePoint delivered solid growth in the second quarter. Our $150 million in revenue represents a 39% increase year over year despite a sluggish economy,” CEO Pasquale “Pat” Romano said in a release.
Solid expansion but below Wall Street expectations. Analysts were expecting a loss of 13 cents a share on revenue of $153.2 million.
The forecast was also below Wall Street consensus. Looking ahead, ChargePoint expects to generate revenue of between $150 million and $165 million in the third quarter. Wall Street forecasts about $178 million. For the year as a whole, the company expects sales of between 605 and 630 million US dollars. Wall Street is forecasting about $667 million.
Shares fell 22% to $5.53 during the
S&P 500
And
Nasdaq Composite
decreased by 0.7% and 1.3% respectively.
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“While we anticipated short-term headwinds… ChargePoints [guides] below our revised expectations,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Bill Peterson in a report. “Growth is still being held back by lower discretionary spending in some markets, and fleet growth is also held back by lack of vehicle availability.”
He still rates the stock as a “buy,” citing ChargePoint as a leader in North America for EV charging, but raised his price target to $10 from $13. Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro also rates the stock as a “buy.” He kept his target price at $17.
“The lower guidance is due to near-term macro headwinds and while we remain confident in ChargePoint’s business strategy, we expect shares to be weak following the results and outlook,” Gengaro wrote Wednesday night. “On the positive side, the longer-term trend appears to be intact.”
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He pointed to management’s plan to generate positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, by the fourth calendar quarter of 2024, just over a year from now, as a sign that the business is fine overall.
As of July 31, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $263.9 million. Wall Street projects that ChargePoint will spend approximately $110 million in the final two quarters of the company’s fiscal 2024 — ChargePoint’s fiscal year ends in January — and approximately $170 million in the upcoming fiscal 2025 to build its business .
At the start of trading on Thursday, ChargePoint stock is down about 26% since Jan. 1 and 56% over the trailing 12 months. Rising interest rates and a slowing economy have partially dampened investor enthusiasm for stocks in startup companies.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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