Blue Apron receives NYSE delisting warning

Meal kit provider Blue Apron is slated to respond this week to a delisting warning from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) concerning its stock price and market capitalization.

New York-based Blue Apron, which sells meals online via subscription and through selected retailers, said that on Dec. 21 it received written notice from NYSE on noncompliance with continued listing standards. The company is required to uphold a minimum average closing price of at least $1 per share and an average global market capitalization of at least $50 million (plus a total stockholder equity of at least $50 million) over a consecutive 30-day trading period.

Blue Apron reported the NYSE alert on Dec. 23, about two weeks after announcing plans to lay off 10% of its workforce and enact cost reductions to help shore up its liquidity and balance sheet.

As of afternoon trading on Tuesday, Blue Apron’s share price stood at 76 cents, with a day’s range of 75 cents to 84 cents and a 52-week range of 61 cents to $9.21. The stock opened 2022 at $6.78 per share. Blue Apron’s market capitalization currently stands at approximately $29.8 million.

“The company plans to notify the NYSE by Jan. 6, 2023, of its receipt of the notice and that it intends to submit a plan to cure both the global market capitalization listing standard deficiency and the minimum share price listing standard deficiency,” Blue Apron stated when announcing the NYSE listing notice.

Blue Apron has six months to regain compliance with the minimum share price standard from the date of receiving NYSE’s notice. The company has 45 days to submit a plan that would bring it into compliance with NYSE’s market-cap standard within 18 months of receiving the warning notice.

“The company is currently evaluating its available options and developing a plan to regain compliance with the minimum global market capitalization requirement,” Blue Apron stated.

“The NYSE notification does not affect Blue Apron's business operations or its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting requirements, nor does it conflict with or cause an event of default under the company’s material debt or other agreements,” the company added.

When announcing its strategic action plan in early December, Blue Apron said it expects to save up to $50 million from labor, marketing and consulting expense cuts in 2023, with the reductions being implemented throughout the year. About a week later, in mid-December, Blue Apron reported receiving $1 million of a private-placement pledge of $56.5 million by an affiliate of Joseph Sandberg, a founding Blue Apron investor, for which the meal solutions company will issue 176,991 shares of Class A common stock at $5.65 per share. In announcing the layoffs and cost-cutting moves, Blue Apron had said the $56.5 million private-placement pledge with the Sandberg affiliate was reached on Nov. 6, but funding hadn’t been received by Nov. 30.