UiPath's stock dives 30% on outlook miss, CEO transition; analysts downgrade

UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) reported a solid set of first-quarter results, however, the soft guidance sent shares sharply lower in premarket trading Thursday.

UiPath reported its first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13, which was slightly higher than the analyst projection of $0.12.

The company's revenue for the quarter also surpassed expectations, coming in at $335.1 million against the anticipated $333.88 million.

Looking ahead, UiPath provided guidance for its second-quarter revenue, projecting between $300 million and $305 million. This forecast falls short of the market consensus, which had estimated a higher revenue of $342.4 million.

For the full fiscal year 2025, UiPath anticipates revenues to be in the range of $1.405 billion to $1.410 billion, which is sharply below the consensus estimates of $1.56 billion.

Moreover, investors were hit with the surprising news of Rob Enslin resigning as CEO and member of the board effective June 1st. Daniel Dines, founder, former CEO, and current Chief Innovation Officer, will return to the role of CEO.

UiPath stock tumbled nearly 30% on the news.

"While our revenue and operating margin guidance are impacted by contract timing and duration, we have confidence in our ability to generate durable ARR growth at scale, and meaningful non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow," the company's officials said.

The company also forecasts its ARR to reach between $1.660 billion and $1.665 billion by January 31, 2025.

Commenting on Wednesday's developments, RBC Capital Markets analysts said results were 'messy' while the CEO transition is 'surprising.'

Meanwhile, KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts downgraded the stock to Sector Weight from Overweight after the report.

"Previously, our thesis was predicated on the Company improving its execution and GTM to drive further expansion and platform adoption," they wrote.

"With the upcoming leadership changes, we see heightened near-term execution risk posing a more challenging path back to 20% ARR growth levels," they added.

Similarly, TD Cowen analysts also downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold, citing "a notable 1-2 punch that's apt to drive significant share pressure&likely leaves shares languishing as Street attempts to comprehend this rapid deterioration&recovery timeframe."

This article first appeared in Investing.com