Shutterfly announces CEO exit and strategic review along with 4Q results

Shares of Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY) were halted Tuesday on news that its CEO Christopher North will step down from the helm and that its board has set up a committee to review its future direction.

News of North’s departure and the strategic review came as the online publisher announced fourth-quarter results, which fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.

North will relinquish his job as CEO and his post as a company director at the end of August and Shutterfly’s board has hired an executive search firm to find his replacement.

“On behalf of the board, I want to express our thanks to Chris for his leadership of the company and important accomplishments since joining in 2016,” said Will Lansing, chairman of Shutterfly’s board. “We also appreciate his willingness to provide time to effect a seamless transition to our next CEO.”

The company board’s decision to both launch a strategic review and retain Morgan Stanley as an advisor follows Shutterfly being approached by a third party about a possible acquisition. Shutterfly later engaged with additional third parties regarding a potential acquisition, but no proposals were received.

“Our board continues to be committed to evaluating all options that maximize shareholder value. We have engaged with any serious indication of interest in the past, and given recent interest we believe it is prudent to form a strategic review committee to fully consider any expressions of interest going forward,” added Lansing in a release.

In its latest quarter, Shutterfly posted net income of $177 million, or $5.19 per share, up from $112 million in the year-ago quarter. Its revenue, meanwhile, came in at almost $950 million, up from $594 million in the corresponding year-ago quarter. The results missed Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $5.32 per share on revenue of $960.83 million.

Contact Ellen Kelleher at [email protected]

Story by ProactiveInvestors