Symbotic Shares Plunge 18% Due to Delay in 10-K Filing
On Wednesday, shares of Symbotic Inc. fell by 18% after the company announced that it would delay the filing of its annual report, Form 10-K, for the fiscal year ending September 28, 2024. This delay was attributed to the need for additional time to assess the financial impacts of errors in revenue recognition and their effects on internal controls over financial reporting.
Symbotic disclosed that errors related to non-billable cost overruns were identified in revenue recognition during the preparation of the 2024 Fiscal Year 10-K. These errors impacted system revenues, pre-tax income, net income, and gross margin for the second, third, and fourth quarters of the 2024 fiscal year. As a result, it was noted that the interim financial statements for the first three quarters of the 2024 fiscal year, as well as the unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and the entire fiscal year, should not be relied upon.
The company had previously reported significant changes in its financial performance for the 2024 fiscal year in an earnings press release dated November 18, 2024. This included an approximate increase of $645 million in revenue, a decrease of about $167 million in pre-tax losses, and a decrease of around $157 million in net losses. However, due to the identified errors, these figures are now being reevaluated.
Currently, Symbotic estimates that the adjusted financial statements will reflect a revenue increase of approximately $605 million to $615 million. Additionally, the reduction in pre-tax losses is expected to be between approximately $127 million and $137 million, while the decrease in net losses is projected to be between around $117 million and $127 million. These corrections represent a negative variance of between $30 million and $40 million from the initially reported figures in the Fourth Quarter Earnings Release for the fiscal year ending September 28, 2024.
The company indicated that the revenue growth and narrowing losses were primarily driven by increased deployments and operational system sites in fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023. Symbotic is diligently working to file the 2024 Fiscal Year 10-K within a fifteen-calendar-day extension period.