Will COVID-19 Make or Break Blue Apron Stock?

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By Chris Lange Published
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Will COVID-19 Make or Break Blue Apron Stock?

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Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) stock again leaped forward Thursday as more investors flocked to the online food delivery service. In the past week, Blue Apron stock has seen explosive growth: over 600% to Wednesday’s close. Has anything really changed at this once weak food delivery service?

A couple of analysts made calls on the stock back on February 19 and 20. SunTrust Banks reiterated a Hold rating with a $5 price target, and Canaccord Genuity also reiterated a Hold rating and but lowered its price target to $5 from $7. However, the stock has far surpassed these targets in less than a month.

In terms of what’s going on, it’s not so much what’s changed about Blue Apron but really the world. The coronavirus effectively has shut down almost everything. As bars, restaurants and more businesses close across the country, people still have to eat, and Blue Apron provides that avenue.

Blue Apron offers a food delivery service. Customers are sent meals that they then prepare and cook. This is more or less the equivalent of Domino’s mailing its customers the ingredients of a pizza and the customer playing chef.

Here’s the thing, food delivery (and delivery in general) will ramp up as COVID-19 runs its course. The question is whether Blue Apron can rise to the occasion to support a ramp in orders. With one of the biggest names in the food-delivery space, Blue Apron has a lot of potential here.

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On the other hand, Blue Apron has not been profitable, and it still is losing money on each order. An influx of new orders could very well be the death of this company by means of success.

Blue Apron stock traded up about 44% at $23.50, in a 52-week range of $2.01 to $28.84. The consensus price target is $5.50.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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