It seems Apple has broken both Facebook and Appen. Changes to Apple security/ privacy has taken away the ability to harvest data.

With the market already predicting the impact of Apple changes, shares already down by half, an earning miss, which they must have known was a stretch, was too much for shareholders.

The company has not provided guidance for FY 2022, which is something they probably should have done for the just reported period. They have instead outlined plans to grow in the next 5 years.

In summary the are looking to 2x the FY21 revenue by FY 2026, which would show compound annual growth rate of something like 15%. They also seeking an EBITDA margin increase 20% by FY26. Management think they can do this with updates to the customers, but they are already saying this pursuit could limit earnings and dividends in the short term. 

A long-term focus is great, but not if you are expecting to turn the share price.

Overall:

• underlying EBITDA was up 3 per cent to $US77.7M
• revenue grew 8 per cent to $US447.8 million, almost completely in the second half
• net profit after tax was down 19.9 per cent to $US28.5M 

Not held.