Wayfair Stock Soars As Home Furnishings Retailer Trimmed Its Losses in Q1

Wayfair (W) shares soared Thursday after the online home furnishings retailer reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.

The company posted a first-quarter adjusted loss of 32 cents per share, narrowing from a $1.13 per-share loss in the same period the year before. Revenue fell 1.6% to $2.73 billion. Both results exceeded analysts' estimates.

Wayfair stock was up 16.3% at $58.80 about an hour before the closing bell, after rising as high as $60.00 in the opening minutes of Thursday's session. The stock has seesawed in recent months, but has gained about 85% over the past year.

Chief Financial Officer Kate Gulliver, in Wayfair's earnings conference call with analysts, said that new cost-cutting initiatives had a positive impact on first-quarter earnings. "[O]ur selling, operations, technology, general, and administrative expenses, or SOTG&A, came in at $416 million, down 14% year-over-year."

In January, the company announced it was reducing its workforce by about 13%, or 1,650 employees, following “a comprehensive, organization-wide analysis of the appropriate team size and structure.” It noted at the time that the layoffs would save more than $280 million per year.

CEO Says Q1 'Ended On An Upswing'

Meanwhile, Wayfair reported its number of active customers increased 2.8% from a year earlier to 22.3 million at the end of the first quarter. 

CEO Niraj Shah said that the latest quarter “ended on an upswing,” and that “shoppers are “increasingly choosing Wayfair," as evidenced by rising active customers.

He added that for the first time since before the pandemic, "we're seeing suppliers introducing large groups of new products into their catalogs as they look to build momentum for the next stage of growth."