Overstock.com posts narrower-than-expected loss in Q2

Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) reported a narrower loss in the second quarter of 2019 helped by lower costs and expenses. The bottom line was narrower than the analysts’ expectations while the top line missed consensus estimates.

Net loss was $24.7 million or $0.69 per share, compared to a loss of $64.9 million or $2.20 per share in the previous year quarter. A significant reduction in sales and marketing expenses as part of its efforts to return to retail profitability hurt the top line that fell by 23% year-over-year to $373.7 million.

In January 2018, the company shifted its retail strategy to aggressively pursue revenue growth and new customers with a large increase in sales and marketing expenses. Overstock discontinued this strategy in August 2018 and has now returned to a disciplined approach to marketing.

Overstock has been transforming itself from e-commerce to a blockchain business as the technology remained the major sought out happening in the tech world. This week, Overstock’s subsidiary tZERO received a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for the Time Ordered Merkle Epoch (TOME) methodology. TOME is a base-layer technology that uses digital signatures to record and verify time-series data such as trades, executions, and settlements.

The company believes that tZERO continues to expand its lead over the competition in the field of security tokens that is likely to be the killer app of the blockchain revolution. Overstock said its retail business has returned to positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time since the second quarter of 2017 and shows no signs of stopping.

The stock has been on a roller coaster ride in the past 12 months. The stock reached a 52-week high level of $48 last August and has been on a free fall touching a new 52-week low of $9 mark in June 2019. However, the company’s stock has recovered sharply surging 133% from June to today’s price of $21.6.

The increase was backed by a new partnership deal inked by the Overstock’s subsidiary tZERO with a movie production house for implementing blockchain technology. READ FULL PREVIEW

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