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Yelp ( YELP ) stock got at least four price-target cuts Tuesday after the troubled social media site late Monday gave weak Q1 guidance, lowered its 2016 earnings outlook and surprised Wall Street by announcing that its CFO was leaving the company. Yelp stock was down more than 3% in afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 15. Yelp stock, trading at its lowest price since June 2012, is down 85% from its all-time high of 101.75 brushed in early March 2014. The company late Monday did report Q4 earnings that beat analysts’ revenue and earnings forecasts. “After its Q4 report, we continue to expect slowing user growth, higher advertising spending and rapid sales force hiring. Yelp is spending like it’s 2014,” wrote Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson in an industry note late Monday. “We continue to postulate that the environment has changed and it’s time for Yelp to focus on profitability instead of raw growth.” The company announced that its chief financial officer, Rob Krolik, will be stepping down “in the coming months.” Yelp said it will start looking for a new CFO immediately. UBS analyst Eric Sheridan wrote in an industry note that Yelp’s earnings translated to “disappointment today and uncertainty tomorrow.” Sheridan said that “with a lower-than-expected EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) guide for fiscal year 2016 and a CFO transition ahead, Yelp’s Q4 results introduced an elevated level of uncertainty around the progress and trajectory of the business.” Sheridan was sour on the company’s Q4 EBITDA miss despite a higher contribution from its higher-margin brand-advertising business. UBS cut its price target on Yelp stock to 17 from 26. Needham & Co. cut its price target on Yelp stock to 25 from 40, while Axiom Securities cut its price target to 18 from 25. Yelp is facing competition in online reviews from multiple fronts — including from Facebook ( FB ), Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google — as other websites build or buy their own databases of user-generated reviews to attract viewers. Yelp also competes with online travel agency TripAdvisor ( TRIP ) and Priceline Group ( PCLN ), the world’s largest Web travel-service company. Thomson Reuters noted Yelp’s Q4 EBITDA as coming in light of the consensus analyst estimate: $17.54 million vs. the $21.9 million that analysts had anticipated. Yelp posted Q4 EPS ex items of 11 cents, down 40% year over year. Yelp reported that revenue rose 40% year over year to $153.7 million. That exceeded the $152.35 million that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had wanted to see. Scalper1 News
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