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Class A shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST) on Thursday reversed course in extended trading to gain nearly 5%, as the restaurant-focused software firm’s quarterly results overshadowed a restructuring plan involving laying off 550 employees.
Earlier, about two hours before the closing bell, class A shares of Toast (TOST) slid sharply following a Bloomberg report that the company was set to layoff about 550 workers. They eventually ended 4.6% lower at $19.23.
However, the stock jumped back into positive territory after hours following the announcement of the company’s Q4 2023 results, at one point rising as much as 21.4%.
Toast (TOST) posted a quarterly loss per share of 7 cents on revenue of $1B. Analysts had expected a loss of 1 cent per share on sales of $1.02B.
Toast’s (TOST) quarterly net loss narrowed to $36M in Q4 from a loss of $99M in Q4 2022. Moreover, the company delivered its third straight quarter of adjusted EBITDA profitability, earning $29M compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $18M a year ago.
TOST’s annualized recurring run-rate was $1.2B at the end of the quarter, up 35% Y/Y. Quarterly gross payment volume increased 32% to $33.7B, while total locations climbed 34% to about 106K.
Boston, Mass.-based Toast (TOST), which provides software services to restaurants such as a point of sale platform, fetched a valuation of nearly $33B in its New York Stock Exchange debut back in September 2021, at a time when the appetite for cloud kitchens and services related to them was high amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turning to the company’s outlook, TOST guided for Q1 2024 adjusted EBITDA of $15M to $25M and full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA of $200M to $220M. The latter represents a significant Y/Y jump from full year 2023’s adjusted EBITDA of $61M.
Toast (TOST) also confirmed the Bloomberg report about the job cuts. According to the company, its board on February 13 approved a restructuring plan “designed to promote overall operating expense efficiency, including a reduction in force that is expected to impact approximately 550 employees.”
Toast (TOST) expects to complete the restructuring plan by the end of 2024, and anticipates incurring related charges of about $45M to $55M, the company said in a statement.
Additionally, TOST said it had authorized a new share buyback program of up to $250M class A common stock.
