Corporate News

Shares of Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) are trading down more than 8 percent in Wednesday's after-hours session of trading following a surprise fourth-quarter loss. The stock last traded at $22.20.

Revenue increased 194 percent year over year to $506.5 million, topping the Street’s consensus of $475.15. The company earned $318 million in international revenue and $188 million in the North American segment.

Operating income was $15.0 million in the quarter, compared with a loss from operations of $336.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Net loss attributable to common stockholders totaled $42.73 million, a substantial move in the right direction from the $378.6 million loss reported during last year's fourth quarter. The loss on a per share basis came in at $0.08 on a GAAP basis and $0.02 on a non-GAAP basis. This was well below the Street’s consensus of a $0.03 increase.

“Groupon had a strong fourth quarter and we finished 2011 having helped 250,000 local merchants across 47 countries grow their businesses while saving Groupon customers billions of dollars,” said Andrew Mason, CEO and Co-Founder of Groupon. “We will continue to invest in new services and tools that help our merchant partners be more successful and drive local commerce around the world.”

Operating cash flow increased 226 percent year over year to $169.1 million, while free cash flow grew 258 percent to $155.1 million.

For the first quarter of 2012, revenue is expected to be between $510 million and $550 million, while income from operations is expected to be between $15 million and $35 million. The Street is calling for $500.89 million in sales.

Diamond Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: DMND) today announced that the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors has substantially completed its investigation of the Company's accounting for certain crop payments to walnut growers. The Audit Committee has concluded that the Company's financial statements for the fiscal years 2010 and 2011 will need to be restated. Over the course of the last three months, the Audit Committee has carefully reviewed the accounting treatment of certain payments to walnut growers.

The Audit Committee has concluded that a "continuity" payment made to growers in August 2010 of approximately $20 million and a "momentum" payment made to growers in September 2011 of approximately $60 million were not accounted for in the correct periods, and the Audit Committee identified material weaknesses in the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

The Board of Directors is taking a number of corrective actions including the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Effective immediately, the Board has appointed Director Rick Wolford to serve as Acting President and Chief Executive Officer and Michael Murphy, of Alix Partners, LLP, to serve as Acting Chief Financial Officer. The Company is commencing searches for permanent replacements for the CEO and CFO positions. The Board has also appointed Robert J. Zollars, who previously served as Lead Independent Director, to the position of Chairman of the Board. Michael J. Mendes and Steven M. Neil have been placed on administrative leave from the Company.

"After an extensive and thorough investigation, the Audit Committee concluded that the Company's internal controls were inadequate and that certain grower payments for the 2011 and 2010 crops were not accounted for in the correct periods. As a result, the Company will restate its fiscal years 2010 and 2011 financial statements," said Robert Zollars, Diamond Foods' Chairman. "The Board takes the Company's control and the integrity of its financial statements very seriously, and we are moving aggressively to implement corrective measures, including changes to the Company's leadership."

"I look forward to working with the management team and the terrific employees at Diamond and will be focused on moving the business forward, further driving Diamond's strong brands and helping to find a permanent chief executive," said Rick Wolford, Acting President and Chief Executive Officer.

Diamond is working diligently to complete financial restatements for the affected periods and will file all required reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as possible. While the timing of the restatement is difficult to predict at this time, the Company will endeavor to provide updates on timing and other material developments.

Rick Wolford previously served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Del Monte Foods. Mr. Wolford began his career in 1967 in the food industry at Dole Foods, where he held a variety of positions, including President of Dole Packaged Foods. He has served as a Director of Diamond Foods since April 2011.

Stereotaxis, Inc. (Nasdaq: STXS) announced that its Vdrive Robotic Navigation System, which provides physicians the ability to remotely manipulate traditionally non-robotic catheters, is growing in popularity and is expected to surpass 500 clinical procedures in Europe in February. The company also announced it has received regulatory clearance from Health Canada to commercially market the device in Canada.

Since the initial product release in Europe in 2011, the Vdrive system has been installed in nine centers, with units scheduled to be installed in additional centers during the first quarter of 2012. The initial nine centers have performed 473 clinical cases with approximately 80% being completed in the left atrium of the heart.

Numerous cases have been performed with the Vdrive™ system and clinical feedback continues to be very positive," said Michael P. Kaminski, President and CEO of Stereotaxis. "With the Health Canada market clearance for the Vdrive system, and our planned new Vdrive installations in Europe and Canada this year, we are well-positioned to drive the growth and further adoption of this exciting technology in electrophysiology labs in these important markets."

In a fully remote procedure environment, the Vdrive system increases the clinical techniques available to the physician and reduces the need to re-enter the sterile field to adjust devices. Initial clinical data from European physicians demonstrates that this simplification saves 30 minutes(1) or more in robotic procedures, depending on the individual clinical technique. Furthermore, the addition of robotic diagnostic catheter manipulation is another step in Stereotaxis' vision to improve device control. Stereotaxis' broad Epoch™ solutions portfolio also includes precise magnetic control of ablation catheters with Ni

Diamond Foods (Nasdaq: DMND) reports audit committee finds 2010, 2011 financials need to be restated.

According to data from StatCounter Wednesday, global users of Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android moved from 23.1 percent in January to 23.9 percent in February. By comparison, arch nemesis Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) was flat at about 24 percent between the months.

Looking back to last February, Android's worldwide market share was 15.2 percent while iOS market share was 24.6 percent.

Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) BlackBerry was fourth at 6.8 percent. The company's market share was at 6.9 percent during the preceding month.

Atop the heap is former Nokia (NYSE: NOK) OS Symbian, holding a 31.8 percent global market share.

In the U.S., however, things are a bit different. Apple's iOS moved from a 45.4 percent share last month to 46.4 percent share. Android moved from 41.8 percent up to 41.9 percent and BlackBerry shifted from 5.8 percent last month to 5.7 percent.

Of the four, RIM is the only stock in negative territory Wednesday.