Wayfair Q1 on target amid COVID-19 fueled home office, household furnishing demand
The COVID-19 pandemic and the move to remote work and telecommuting appears to be Wayfair's time to shine.
The home and furniture e-commerce giant said that it expects to meet or exceed its first quarter revenue targets as well as its non-GAAP EBITDA's margins.
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Wayfair previously said that it expected first quarter revenue to grow between 15% and 17% with non-GAAP EBITDA margins of -7.8% to -7.3%. The company said:
After entering the month of March with gross revenue growing at slightly below 20% year-over-year, consistent with January and February growth rates, Wayfair saw this rate of growth more than double towards the end of March. This run-rate has continued into early April.
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Now Wayfair is expecting to get to its non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA profitability target faster than expected and boost its cash position.
CEO Niraj Shah said that the company's e-commerce model has benefited from stronger demand for staples such as mattresses, bedding, kitchen utensils and home office furniture. Due to stay-at-home orders, Wayfair has been used to better equip houses for both work and play.
Wayfair said most of its employee base is working from home, but fulfilment, logistics and transportation facilities are operational under no-contact delivery and safety precautions in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.
Wayfair has increased daily cleaning and disinfection routines during the pandemic and instituted temperature checks for employees. The company also said it has offered its call center and logistics network to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to some changes for Wayfair in that it will postpone its annual Way Day sale to a later date. It will also offer a promo event in the second quarter and donate some of the proceeds to charitable causes. Wayfair also moved to raise $535 million via a convertible bond offering to bolster its balance sheet.