Fitbit, Run by One of America’s 20 Worst CEOs, Posts Horrible Numbers

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 12, 3:01AM EST · Published Feb 27, 6:35AM EST

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Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT) once against posted numbers that beg the question whether it can remain a viable standalone company. It also adds to concerns about whether CEO James Park is fit to run the company. He was on 24/7 Wall St.’s most recent list of the 20 worst CEOs in America.

In the final quarter of 2017, Fitbit revenue was $571 million, down from $574 million in the same period of 2016. The company had a net loss of $46 million, compared to a loss of $146 million last year. Park commented:

In 2018 we’ll focus on managing down expenses, continuing to expand in the smartwatch category and supporting our engaged global community on their health and fitness journeys.

The comment hints that the company may need to cut more staff.

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Shares fell 16% after hours to $4.66. The company had a share price of $17 in September 2016.

24/7 Wall St.’s Park citation from the 20 Worst CEOs in America 2017:

According to many investors, some companies should never become public. These investors generally refer to corporations that do not have business models that can sustain support from shareholders. Fitbit fits that description.

CEO James Park co-founded the company in 2007 after realizing the potential of using sensors in wearable activity trackers.

Fitbit operates in a sector that includes China consumer electronics giant Xiaomi and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). Among the mistakes Park has made is to focus on the crowded health-care and fitness segments of the wearables market, which Xiaomi and Apple have taken positions in.

Fitbit’s third-quarter revenue slumped 21.8% to $393 million from $503 million in the same quarter last year. Fitbit also posted a loss of $113 million in the quarter after reporting a profit of $26.1 million in last year’s quarter. Some analysts have downgraded the shares.

Park took Fitbit public and then pushed it in the wrong direction.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.