Sell-by: HelloFresh shares are tanking, as users give up on the meal-kit delivery service

11/16/23 7:00PM

Soured‍

‍HelloFresh was looking a little past its “sell-by” date this week: after the company cut its profit guidance for the year, investors dumped shares, which saw the stock price fall ~14% on Thursday. The move leaves the company’s stock down 52% since mid-September, wiping some $3.4 billion from the meal maker's value.

While it’s unknown exactly what moved HelloFresh to issue the profit warning — just 3 weeks after it had restated financial targets on a quarterly earnings call in October — the German company pointed to weaker-than-expected sales growth and rising costs in North America, where 56% of its active customers are based.

Founded in Berlin in 2011, when co-founders personally hand-packed the early pre-prepped meals, HelloFresh was one of the first leaders in the “meal-kit delivery” industry, quickly expanding into the US and eventually becoming the most popular meal-kit service in the world.

On a list of “businesses that boomed during the pandemic”, HelloFresh wasn’t quite on Zoom's level... but it wasn’t far off. Although millions turned to the convenience of regular food deliveries during lockdown, holding onto subscribers has proved difficult in 2023, with its customer count falling in each of the last 4 quarters — shedding 440,000 HelloFreshers in Q3.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.