From the AFR this morning: Family tracking app Life360 added 4.1 million monthly users in the first three months of the year, reaching 83.7 million global users.
The Silicon Valley-headquartered and dual ASX- and Nasdaq-listed company added 137,000 paying accounts in the quarter, helping lift total revenue 32 per cent from a year ago to $US103.6 million. Its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $US15.9 million compared to $4.3 million in the same period a year earlier and net income of $US4.4 million. Hardware revenue, which includes sales of its Bluetooth tracking device Tile, decreased 13 per cent year-on-year to $US8.9 million.
Chief financial officer Russell Burke said the company did not expect sweeping tariff changes in the US to materially hurt the business. “Looking ahead, even as consumer financial pressures intensify, our core subscription business remains resilient, and we have largely mitigated the impacts of an uncertain tariff environment so that the anticipated overall impact is not material.”
The chief executive of Life360 says that despite a reprieve in tariffs on electronics made in China, his company – which makes tracking devices to rival Apple’s AirTags – isn’t in a hurry to bring its new device to the US.
Chris Hulls told investors on Tuesday morning (AEST) that the company had initially planned to launch a new pet tracking device in the US later this year, but decided to launch the product in international markets first due to the threat of American tariffs on products made in China.
Shares in Life360 jumped almost 16 per cent to $27.61 after releasing strong first quarter results on Tuesday, amid a broader relief rally on the ASX after the US and China agreed to lower tariffs and moderate their trade war.
“Even though things have been reversed, companies have to lock in decisions,” Hulls told The Australian Financial Review. “We have already locked in our decision to shift our pet tracking launch away from the US to international markets. If this pause stays in place, there’s just too much uncertainty around it. So we have shifted strategy, and we’re staying the course.”
The consumer tech company expects its revenue guidance to remain unchanged for the full year but expects subscriptions of its family tracking app will offset lower sales in its hardware division as US customers pull back on discretionary retail spending. Life360 is guiding toward subscription revenue in the range of $US355 million to $US365 million, an upgrade from earlier guidance of $US350 million to $US360 million.