LivePerson Analysts Hug The Sidelines On Q4 Print, Lower Outlook

Shares of LivePerson Inc LPSN crashed in early trading on Thursday, after the company reported its fourth-quarter results.

• Needham analyst Ryan MacDonald maintained a Hold rating on the stock.
• KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Thomas Blakey downgraded the rating from Overweight to Sector Weight.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Needham

• The company missed the consensus estimates “due to an inability to recognize rev. for a Medicare reimbursement program for its Wild Health offering,” MacDonald said in a note.
• “While we view this as a bit of misfortune, LPSN's lower outlook for FY23 was intentional as they refocus the business on the B2B Core & Wild Health,” the analyst wrote. “As a result, LPSN is removing ~$70mm of non-core/non-recurring rev. in an effort to drive more profitable growth."
• Although this is the right strategy, there is significant uncertainty “as the core business is being impacted by the macro & Wild Health is in the early innings,” MacDonald stated.

KeyBanc

• LivePerson delayed its 10K “due to revenue adjustments tied to suspended Medicare reimbursements related to a now-discontinued program,” Blakey said in the downgrade note.
• Additionally, LivePerson cut 2023 revenue outlook by ~22% after citing ~14% of revenue as non-core with additional pressures from macro including smaller deals,” he added.
• “We continue to believe LivePerson is well positioned to benefit from secular emerging trends in digital engagement and AI, with the latter benefiting from the Company’s unique data sets to enhance AI outcomes, but new growth and margin frameworks for the total company as well as increased execution risks, in our view, inform our downgrade of shares,” the analyst wrote.

LPSN Price Action: Shares of LivePerson declined by 54.25% to $4.47 at the time of publication Thursday.