Etsy Has a New CFO. The Stock Has Been Struggling. -- Barrons.com

By Angela Palumbo

Etsy announced a new chief financial officer on Thursday, following a challenging year for the e-commerce marketplace's stock.

Etsy said in a news release on Thursday that Lanny Baker, currently chief operating officer at Eventbrite, will become the new chief financial officer. This comes after the company said in July that longtime CFO Rachel Glaser was retiring.

Baker will leave Eventbrite on Dec. 31 and will begin his new roll at Etsy in the first week of 2025.

"I can't wait to get started at Etsy, a company I have long admired, with the opportunity to help take this great business to its next phase of growth and success," Baker said in the news release.

Shares of Etsy were down 1.6% Thursday to $58.11. The stock is down 28% this year, a stark contrast to a 28% gain for the S&P 500. The company has been dealing with customer's pulling back spending amid inflationary pressures.

Gross merchandise sales, or the total value of items sold on Etsy's platforms, was $2.92 billion in the third quarter, which was below Wall Street estimates of $2.97 billion and a 4.1% decline from the previous year.

Glaser said on the company's earnings call on Oct. 30 that economic conditions that influence consumers' budgets "continue to weigh on the wallet share we are able to win."

Despite the overall drop in the stock this year, shares have come back 23% from the 52-week closing low of $47.48 on Oct. 29, 2024, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Third-quarter revenue of $662 million increased 4.1% from a year earlier and beat analyst expectations of $653 million.

"Despite a tough macro, Etsy is executing against its strategic objectives to reposition the business for sustainable growth," Truist Securities analyst Youssef Squali wrote in a research note in November. He rates the stock as a Buy with a $70 price target.

Investors will want to see this new CFO help Etsy bounce back in the new year.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

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December 05, 2024 12:53 ET (17:53 GMT)

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