Live by the wristband, die by the wristband.
Fitbit reported its third-quarter earnings this afternoon, reporting year-over-year growth of 23 percent to $503.8 million. Analysts had been expecting $506.9 million, which doesn’t sound like much of a miss; earnings of 19 cents per share met expectations. Unit sales grew 11 percent, and so did average selling price.
The real problem is in the current quarter and full-year results. For the fourth quarter, Fitbit execs said they expected earnings of between 17 and 19 cents per share on revenue of between $725 million and $750 million; analysts had been expecting earnings of 75 cents on revenue of $985 million. For the full year, execs said they expected between 55 and 59 cents per share on revenue between $2.32 billion and $2.35 billion; analyst consensus had been $1.18 earnings on $2.58 billion revenue. That would be a 10 percent miss on revenue and a 50 percent miss on earnings.
In aftermarket trading today, Fitbit got killed: down more than 30 percent at less than $9 share. And this, you’ll recall, is for the company that’s leading the basic wristband category.