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Investing.com -- Marc Chalfin, Chief Investment Officer of Windward Management and a vocal Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) bull, has dismissed a recently published short-seller report directed at the company, calling its claims ‘sensational.’
In exclusive comments to Investing.com, Chalfin addressed key allegations made in a June 9th report by Lauren Balik of The Captain’s Log, which questioned the revenue impact of Groupon’s weight-loss-related offerings and alleged a reliance on Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Office’s consumer product release cycles.
Responding to the first claim, Chalfin rejected the idea that Groupon’s revenue growth is driven by “long-tail med spas and sketchy telehealth services,” noting that sales in the company’s Health & Wellness category have actually declined over the past three quarters. “GLP-1 offerings are clearly not driving revenue growth,” Chalfin said, adding that Groupon has not seen any meaningful uptick from that segment at the peak of weight-loss hype in 2024, and it’s not benefitting from it now.
Addressing the Microsoft Office claim, Chalfin noted that discount coupons for Microsoft products have long been categorized under “Local”—not “Goods”—because they are vouchers rather than physical products. He also dismissed the suggestion that their classification was designed to inflate the “Local” segment’s reported revenue—in Chalfin’s estimate, Microsoft-related products account for roughly 1% of the company’s billings and do not have a material impact on its performance.
Defending Groupon’s growth story, Chalfin said that the “Things to Do” segment has been behind the accelerating revenues growth, not the segments or listings mentioned in the short-seller report.
Chalfin also defended the company’s CEO from accusations of lacking transparency, noting that management generally only calls out material drivers and categories, hence, explaining its lack of comments about the “GLP-1s and MS Office.”
Windward, which owns a nearly 6% stake in Groupon, “bought shares yesterday,” Chalfin added.