Meal kit company Blue Apron expects to achieve profitability this quarter, the company said ahead of its Q4 2018 and fiscal year 2018 financial results. Blue Apron will release its earnings January 31, but said today that, “based on its current view of the business, Blue Apron plans to reaffirm confidence in achieving profitability” on an adjusted EBITDA basis in Q1 2019, as well as for the entire fiscal year.
Blue Apron defines EBITDA as its net earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Simply put, it’s a measure of Blue Apron’s operating profitability as a percentage of its total revenue.
This comes a couple of months after Blue Apron laid off four percent of its staff as part of its path to profitability. At the time, Blue Apron said it expected to spend about $1.6 million in employee-related expenses — mostly severance payments. That, however, will lead to an estimated $16 million in savings this year.
Meanwhile, Blue Apron recently formed an exclusive direct-to-consumer partnership with Weight Watchers. As part of the deal, Blue Apron has the rights to sell and deliver Weight Watchers meal kits to its customers.
Blue Apron also teased an update on its partnership with Jet to bring same-day and next-day delivery Blue Apron meals to New York City, as well as its new product designed for online and brick-and-mortar retail stores.
In Q3 3018, Blue Apron reported a loss of $33.9 million compared to $87.2 million last year during this time. Meanwhile, revenue declined to $150.6 million compared to $210.6 million in the year-ago period.
Blue Apron is currently trading up 34 percent at $1.4 per share.
