After a tumultuous year including a company restructuring, Waitr announced this morning that February was its first-ever profitable month.
Preliminary revenue for the first quarter was approximately $44 million, according to the company, down from the $48 million reported for the first quarter of 2019, but still up from the $12.4 million reported for Q1 2018. The Lafayette-based food delivery service lost more than $290 million last year, with revenues reported at $191.7 million.
The company’s net loss for the first quarter was between $2 million and $3 million, a considerable decrease from the first quarter of 2019 when the company reported $24.7 million in losses. As of March 31, Waitr had approximately $39 million cash on hand.
Chairman and CEO Carl Grimstad, who took the helm in January, credits the positive figures to restructuring in November and earlier this year that included reclassifying drivers as independent contractors instead of company employees.
“Earlier this year, we implemented several strategic initiatives with a focus on improving revenue per order, cost per order, cash flow and profitability,” Grimstad says. “We believe these actions allowed us to stabilize and position the company for the long term.”
Waitr expects to release first quarter 2020 earnings results in early May 2020.
Waitr initially saw a decrease in orders in mid-March as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, but reports that orders rebounded toward the end of March and have continued to grow in April.
It’s been a shaky twelve months for the company, which has struggled financially and has experienced multiple executive-level staff changes. Last summer, company founder Chris Meaux resigned as CEO and was replaced by Adam Price, then chief operating officer and a former executive of a company Waitr acquired earlier in the year. The company’s president, Joseph Stough, stepped down a month later.
In the fall, the departure of two members of Waitr’s board of directors and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Yurecko left the company out of compliance for its NASDAQ listing. Following the last three resignations, which occurred days within each other, the company’s stock dropped below $1, further threatening its status on the stock exchange. As of this morning, the company’s shares were trading at $1.21. Waitr has yet to replace the two board members.