Wayfair Q4 Revenues Leap 46.2%, but Net Loss Widens

February 22, 2018  by Larry Thomas in Economic News, Industry   

The loss for the final quarter of 2017 totaled $72.77 million or 83 cents per share. That was up from a loss of $43.96 million or 51 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The company said advertising expenditures jumped more than 43% to $165.7 million in the most recent quarter, while selling, technology and administrative expenses rose nearly 40% to $181.8 million.

The top-line growth was driven by a 33.2% increase in the number of active customers – Wayfair had 11 million as of Dec. 31 – and an average order value of $229, up from $202 in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The company said repeat customers placed 62.4% of orders in the fourth quarter, and 47.3% of total orders were placed on a mobile device. In 2016 fourth quarter, 43.3% of orders came from a mobile device.

“We are pleased to report another year of incredible growth with total net revenue up $1.3 billion to $4.7 billion in 2017, as well as a record fourth quarter with the largest year-over-year increase in Direct Retail dollars in company history," said Niraj Shah, CEO, co-founder and co-chairman. "Our long-term investing approach and customer-centric mentality continue to pay off as we outpace the shift to online spending in our category and gain significant market share.”

“Technology, combined with continuous testing and innovation, allows us to constantly enhance the shopping experience while quickly scaling our operations. From developing tools and features that help shoppers find just the right item among millions of options to providing design inspiration, product visualization and delivery tracking, we are redefining what is possible in the home category,” he continued.

For the 2017 calendar year, revenues jumped 39.9% to $4.72 billion.

The full-year net loss totaled $244.6 million or $2.81 per share. That was up from a loss of $194.4 million or $2.29 per share in 2016.