Shares in meal-kit service Marley Spoon AG (ASX: MMM) struggled through most of Wednesday, but came out on top after nudging past yesterday's closing price.
Marley Spoon shares started the day flat before trading as low as 80 cents during intraday trading. They finished the day at 82 cents apiece, up 0.62%.
It's been a bumpy ride down south for the company these past few months, and shares are now trading at 3-month lows after coming off a high of $2.09 in September.
The Marley Spoon share price is now down 20% for the month as a result, and lags the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by a considerable amount in that time.
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What's up with Marley Spoon shares lately?
Investors began selling Marley Spoon shares in droves again in October when the company released its update for the quarter ending 30 September 2021.
During the 3 months, the company grew revenue 14% year on year to 79.2 million euro. It left the quarter with 33 million euro in cash on the balance sheet – a 17% jump from the previous year.
However, investors were quick to compare Marley Spoon's H1 FY21 trading update – where sales grew by 38% – and its most recent results.
Investors were equally spooked by the company's guidance downgrade. It now estimates a lower sales growth of 26%–28% compared to previous guidance of 30%–35% growth at the top line.
The company blamed its downward revision of guidance on "volatile customer behaviour" at the time, alongside "staffing challenges, higher labour rates, and food cost inflation".
Nonetheless, investors violently sold off their Marley Spoon positions following the trading update, and the share price tanked in vertical fashion in the days afterwards. It hasn't reversed course since.
Since then, the market hasn't wanted a slice of Marley Spoon's meal-kit service. For example, today total volume of Marley Spoon shares traded was at just 30% of its 4-week average volume. For comparison, the day before its trading update, it traded on a volume of 1.25 million shares.
Without the forward earnings guidance to bite into, it appears investors have left the Marley Spoon party and show no sign of returning any time soon.
Marley Spoon share price snapshot
It's been a year of pain for Marley Spoon shareholders, with the share price collapsing 50.5% in the last 12 months. It has tanked 63.6% just this year to date.
These results are well behind the benchmark ASX 200 index's return of around 10% in the last year.
