Things haven’t been easy for Groupon since it went public in 2011. The company tanked after its most recent quarterly earnings report, losing nearly a quarter of its value, before losing founder and CEO Andrew Mason, after his firing.
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Mason’s departure can’t have been easy for the company, losing a founder never is, but the grace, dignity and humor with which he decided to leave meant that it wasn’t as big a scandal as it might have been. In fact, the group-buying site that fueled the phenomenon seems to have made a pretty good recovery in the time since.
In fact, the value of its stock is now 40% higher than it was on the day of Mason’s departure. And, as The Next Web explains, things are even better when you consider how low the company had slid at other times during the year:
Groupon slid to a close of US$4.53 on February 28th. Mason was then fired. The stock closed Friday at US$6.36, for a gain of just over 40 percent. Comparing the company’s current valuation to its 52 week low of US$2.60, Groupon has moved up 144%.
Groupon investors such as Tiger Global and Coatue Management are both driving and benefiting from those gains. The former bought 10% of the company in the last part of 2012, when it was worth around US$2-billion. It’s now worth 110% more than that.
The funny thing is, Groupon hasn’t actually even made whispers about changing the way it does business. The only things driving its turnaround therefore are the firing of its CEO and founder and a couple of big investments from people looking to get a comparative bargain.
How long this resurgence lasts remains to be seen. The company will file its first quarter performance on 8 May. We’re not expecting its earnings to match its stock market resurgence, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a new wave of investors won’t follow in Tiger Global’s wake. Right now Groupon stock is still a reasonably cheap buy and one that people will look to capitalise on.
