Groupon Inc (GRPN) Report Q1 Earnings, Sales Rise 8%

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Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) has just unveiled its earnings report for the first three months of 2013. The company showed earnings of $0.03 per share in the first quarter of 2013 on revenue of $601.40. On today’s market shares in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) trended strongly upward. The company’s stock finished the day at $5.59.

Groupon Inc (GRPN) Report Q1 Earnings, Sales Rise 8%

Analysts concerning themselves with Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) estimated that the firm would earn 3 cents per share for the first quarter of the year on revenues totaling $592 million. In the first three months of 2012 the social discounter earned $0.02 on revenue of $559 million.

Since the start of 2013, the market has been reasonably optimistic about the company. Stock in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) increased by just over 15 percent since January 1 through this afternoon. In comparison, Nasdaq has traded up just 13 percent in the new year and the S&P 500 has gained about 15 percent, putting Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) in line.

There has been lots of interest in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) from major hedge funds so far in 2013, indicating that the company’s mathematics is working out well for analysts. Tiger Global recently purchased 9.9 percent of the company, while George Soros also put his significant weight behind the company in recent months.

Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) offered a really weak earnings report for the last three months of 2013, a move that sent the company’s shares plummeting 25 percent. Groupon doesn’t play nice, and its stock tends to be quite volatile and very vulnerable to headline pressure. Trading in the after hours this evening is sure to be driven by those same pressures.

Groupon has made some positive changes in recent months—replacing the firm’s founder Andrew Mason at the top was a decision that shareholders applauded after years of poor management at the firm. Questions about the company’s accounting practices also appear to be behind the firm, leaving it with reduced exposure to downside risk.

The real downside risk for Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) is as it’s always been, the company’s insane valuation. On today’s market, Groupon’s market cap was just under $3.7 billion. The company has delivered two straight years of pretty horrendous misses on annual earnings, and yet it is still a highly valued stock.

Several times over the last two years all it has taken to make the firm’s stock plummet is the casting of a shadow on its chart. Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) is vulnerable to all sorts of pressures, and some of them may assert themselves in after market trading.

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