Marqeta Stock Drops on Leadership Transition, Downgrade at Wells Fargo
2022.08.11 17:18
Marqeta (MQ) Stock Drops on Leadership Transition, Downgrade at Wells Fargo
By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Marqeta Inc (NASDAQ:MQ) are down over 6% after the company announced Q2 results and management changes.
Marqueta reported an adjusted Ebitda loss of $10.2 million, which translates into a loss of $0.08 per share, but still $0.03 better than the analyst estimate of a loss of $0.11 per share. Revenue came in at $187 million, again better than the $179.3 million consensus.
For this quarter, the company said it sees net revenue growth between 36% and 38%, gross profit margin between 43% and 44%, as well as an adjusted Ebitda margin between -8% and -9%.
Moreover, Marqeta announced that the CEO Jason Gardner will transition to the role of Executive Chairman. Moreover, COO Vidya Peters resigned.
A Wells Fargo analyst downgraded MQ shares to Equal Weight from Overweight with an $11 per share price target, down from $13. The 4 key reasons behind the downgrade call are:
- A ‘regime change’ of this magnitude will be a challenge for investors to stomach at this point in the cycle;
- Revenue growth will slow in 2H22;
- ’23 looks increasingly opaque in terms of MQ’s potential revenue and EBITDA generation; and
- Wells Fargo sees an eventual renewal with Block weighing on MQ’s take rate.
“We do like the L-T story—but this is a material management transition, plus the fundamental backdrop looks like it is weakening from here,” the analyst concluded.
A Morgan Stanley analyst remains Overweight-rated on MQ shares as he is still positive on medium-term growth trajectory.
“We’re still highly constructive on MQ’s compounding TPV trajectory given ongoing elevated investment,” the analyst told clients.
