What happened
Shares of Baozun (NASDAQ: BZUN), the struggling Chinese e-commerce services provider, were moving lower today after the company issued another disappointing earnings report.
As a result, the stock was down 8.4% as of 1:36 p.m. ET on Thursday.
So what
At a time when much of the Chinese e-commerce sector is struggling, Baozun posted another quarter of declining sales as revenue fell 4.9% to $274.9 million, though that topped estimates at $270.8 million. Both service and product revenue fell in the quarter.
On the bottom line, the company reported an adjusted operating profit of $1.4 million, up slightly from the year before, and it finished the quarter with an adjusted profit per share of $0.03, up from breakeven in the quarter a year ago, and better than the consensus at breakeven.
Management continued to make progress on its plan to restructure the company into three divisions: Baozun e-commerce, Baozun brand management, and Baozun international.
CEO Vincent Qiu said, "I am excited about the transformation road map we have lined up for the next three years," and he added, "For the long term, the expansion of Baozun Group into three divisions is aimed at creating a virtuous ecosystem in which each division brings value to the others."
Now what
Baozun didn't offer guidance, but investors are understandably frustrated with the lack of progress on the top and bottom lines.
Peers like Alibaba and JD.com also reported flat growth in their recent quarters, so the challenges seem to extend beyond Baozun.
Nonetheless, past efforts to reignite sales growth have fallen flat, and that's unlikely to change -- at least until the larger macro-level trends improve.
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Jeremy Bowman has positions in Alibaba Group and JD.com. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Baozun and JD.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
