Blue Apron is crashing as customers ditch its meal-kit service

Markets Insider

• Blue Apron says it saw a 24% year-over-year drop in customers during the second quarter.
• Shares are down about 20% Thursday morning.
• Watch Blue Apron trade in real time here.

Blue Apron shares are crashing Thursday morning, down about 20%, after the meal-kit delivery service reported a big drop in customers.

The company said total customers fell 8.8% quarter-over-quarter and 24% versus a year ago. Revenue per customer slipped to $250 from $251 last year. Blue Apron has struggled to retain customers as Amazon, Walmart, and other players have entered the space.

"As we previously articulated, 2018 is a year of transition and building for the future," CEO Brad Dickerson said in the earnings release.

The meal-kit maker reported a loss of $0.17 a share as revenue plunged 25% year-over-year of $179.6 million. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were anticipating a loss of $0.17 per share on $188.6 million of revenue.

Blue Apron shares were down 41% this year through Wednesday.