Straight teeth don’t seem to be at the top of people’s priorities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teledentistry company SmileDirectClub ($SDC) missed expectations in its first-quarter earnings report yesterday, with orders down nearly 40 percent from April to May.
The company reported sales hitting $196.65 million, versus Wall Street’s estimate of $219.52 million. That said, revenue for the quarter is 11% higher than it was in 2019’s first quarter.
SDC raised $280 million in funding in 2018, four years after it was founded, as consumer interest and social media chatter around the company continued to grow. Since 2017, likes on SDC’s Facebook page have increased by more than 500%. But over the past few months, they’ve plateaued.
Facebook mentions had been falling off since last August. And since the beginning of the year, they’ve plummeted 89%.
Job postings have been slashed 89% since February, from 360 down to only 40 open positions.
Yet, the company’s LinkedIn employee headcount has increased by 4%. It’s possible these new hires were brought on specifically to help devise pandemic-era strategies.
Yesterday’s earnings report has the company’s net loss coming in at $107.4 million, 424.4% worse than last year’s net loss. But maybe things will turn around as consumers adapt to the “new normal” and still need to fix that overbite.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Instacart data shows why investors are trying to get in on a $14B valuation
- OYO data signals flagging growth at yet another Softbank-backed startup
- Vroom is in high gear heading toward an IPO - see what its data is saying about how it weathers the pandemic
