Skift Take
Despite positive financial results, Eventbrite is laying off eight percent of its staff. Its restructuring plan involves relocating development, customer support and operations roles away from the U.S. as well as cuts to real estate.
On Monday, ticketing platform Eventbrite said it will eliminate around 8 percent of its current workforce. The restructuring plan approved by the board of directors focuses on reducing operating costs, consolidating talent, and enabling long-term growth.
Eventbrite is the latest tech company to resort to layoffs in the face of economic uncertainty. According to the tech layoff tracking website layoffs.fyi, 120,342 employees have lost their jobs so far in 2023.
Restructuring Plans Outlined
In addition to layoffs, the company will relocate approximately 30 percent of the remaining roles. Development roles will move from the U.S. and Argentina to Spain and India, while customer support and operations roles will move outside the U.S. A reduction in real estate reduction is also part of the cost-cutting measures announced.
Eventbrite expects the restructuring plan to run the whole of 2023 and cost $12-20 million. This cost includes $6-12 million for one-time employee termination and relocation costs and $6-8 million for facilities and fixed assets.
Positive Financial Results
The announcement of the restructuring plan preceded Tuesday’s posting of the fourth quarter and year-end financial results. The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $71.5 million, up 20 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Full-year revenue was $260.9 million, up 39 percent over last year.
“Our strong fourth quarter and full year financial results reflect great execution in enabling creator success and growth. We powered the experience economy with $3.3 billion of ticket sales in 2022 as consumers attended 5 million total events offered by our creators. New tools, like Ads, are making an impact for creators who rely on Eventbrite to build their audience using our scale and marketplace,” said Julia Hartz, co-founder and CEO.
Net income was $4.0 million compared to a net loss of $16.8 million in the same period in 2021. However, the company notes that fourth-quarter net income includes a $7.0 million reduction in advance payout reserves and a $2.7 million tax credit.
The numbers posted significantly improved over 2021 figures but fall slightly short of 2019. Comparing the fourth quarter of 2022 with 2019 we see a net revenue of $71.5 million ($82.7 million in 2019), paid ticket volume of 25.1 million (29.0 million in 2019), and a gross profit of $47.3 million ($48.6 million in 2019).
Eventbrite anticipates first quarter 2023 revenue will be $73-76 million and full-year 2023 revenue to be $312-330 million. If the company is able to match even the lower end of its current earnings guidance, that would mean an increase in revenue of almost 20 percent year-on-year.
Investing in Innovation
Since its debut, Eventbrite has been a staple for simplified event ticketing, including for business events. However, the company’s strategic focus is on consumer events. Its two-sided marketplace that is core to the business strategy revolves around creators and consumers.
“We will continue to innovate on marketing and demand generation capabilities that help creators share their unique content with a bigger audience of consumers,” said Hartz.
In its fourth-quarter 2022 shareholder letter, Eventbrite highlights achievements in drawing consumers to events, expanding payment options and lifting purchase conversions. In addition, the company says it is shifting its investment toward “high-impact consumer functionality” such as search and discovery, personalization, and recommendations.
Photo credit: Grisha Petrosyan / Unsplash
