Wayfair shares tank on weaker customer numbers

(Sharecast News) - Wayfair's share price dropped nearly 12% on Thursday despite the online furniture retailer beating profit estimates in the fourth quarter, as active customer numbers slipped year-on-year. The firm reported net revenues of $3.34bn for the three months to 31 December, up 6.9% from the year before. Excluding the now-exited German market, sales growth would been 7.8%.

Net losses for the quarter eased to $116m of 89 cents, from $128m or 102 cents a year before, though adjusted earnings per share of 85 cents was comfortably ahead of the 69 cents consensus forecast.

However, Wayfair's number of active customers - defined as those having purchased at least once directly from its sites during the preceding 12-month period - slipped 0.5% to 21.3m, slightly short of the 21.5m consensus forecast.

Co-founder and co-chair Niraj Shah said the fourth quarter "capped off a tremendous year for Wayfair".

"2025 was a year where we returned to growth and accelerated throughout the year through a number of organic business strategies that can compound for years to come. This was characterised by two important themes: our share capture overwhelming the drag of the macro, and the substantial flow through of that growth to the bottom line. We expect our topline growth and flow through to adjusted EBITDA to be the bedrock of our story for years to come."

The stock was down 11.5% at $80.95 by 1446 GMT in early deals on Wall Street.