Etsy stock drops 4% despite Q3 beat

Etsy (NASDAQ:) shares fell more than 4% after-hours despite the company’s reported better-than-expected Q3 results. EPS of $0.64 and revenues of $636.3 million (up 7% year-over-year) came in better than the consensus estimates of $0.50 and $631.27M, respectively.

The notable revenue growth was mainly attributed to the growth in Etsy Ads, payments revenue, and transaction fee revenue from Offsite Ads. Consolidated Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) rose by 1.2% year-over-year to $3.0 billion. The GMS faced challenges from a still dynamic macroeconomic environment that impacted consumer discretionary product spending, along with a small headwind from the mid-quarter divestiture of Elo7.

Etsy marketplace GMS reached $2.7B, marking a 1.0% increase from the previous year. Growth in active buyers accelerated again this quarter with a 4% year-over-year increase, setting a new all-time high of 92 million.

Regarding the company’s outlook, CEO Josh Silverman commented, “There’s no doubt that this is an incredibly challenging environment for spending on consumer discretionary items. It’s therefore important to acknowledge that this volatile macro climate will make it challenging for us to grow this quarter.”

For Q4/23, the company anticipates a low single-digit decline in GMS year-over-year. This decline could deepen to a mid-single-digit if trends deteriorate, though an improvement in trends could result in flat or slightly increased GMS compared to the previous year.