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Earnings Preview: Groupon to post 4Q results

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The Associated Press 4:41 PM Monday, February 6, 2012

NEW YORK — Investors will get to decide whether Groupon Inc. offers a bargain when the company posts its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday — its first earnings report as a publicly traded company.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Investors will watch closely for insight into Groupon's finances and its prospects for growth. Groupon makes money by taking a cut from the online deals it offers to its subscribers on everything from restaurant meals to Botox treatments and weekend getaways.

It's a young company and its business is still unproven, so any outlook or indication of its expectations for the rest of the year will be important.

In addition, any details about Groupon's subscriber figures will be a key part of its results — as well as how many of these subscribers are buying deals on a regular basis.

WHY IT MATTERS: Groupon is the largest and only publicly traded daily-deals site out there. As a pioneer, its earnings are an important gauge of how this new industry is faring.

WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts, on average, are expecting earnings adjusted to exclude the impact of one-time items and stock-based compensation of 3 cents per share on revenue of $473.1 million, according to a poll by FactSet.

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February 06, 2012 09:36 PM EST

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