By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY--Appen shares gave back more of their strong recent gains, slumping more than 25% after the AI-training company said work volumes had dropped at the start of its fiscal year.
The Australia-listed company on Wednesday reported a smaller-than-expected annual net loss of US$20.0 million. The average analyst forecast had been for a net loss of US$25.2 million, or US$21.5 million on an underlying basis, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.
Appen said it remained confident in its 2025 outlook, but said volumes since Jan. 1 have been lower than in the December quarter. It blamed delays from annual planning by its major customers.
After about 90 minutes of trade on Wednesday, the stock was 26% lower at 2.13 Australian dollars, or about US$1.35. The decline extended its recent pullback from a near two-year high.
The stock rose almost 12 times in value after touching a record-low A$0.26 in February 2024, surging to A$3.11 last month as the company rebuilt revenues following the loss of a major contract with Google.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 25, 2025 19:34 ET (00:34 GMT)
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