Shares of BuzzFeed Inc. were up more than 126% after hours on Wednesday, after the once-influential media company said it had sold off the pop-culture site Complex — albeit for far less than what it paid initially — and planned another big staff cut.
The moves by BuzzFeed
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— which owns its namesake outlet, HuffPost and First We Feast, known for the popular YouTube show “Hot Ones” — mark the latest cutbacks at the company and within the broader digital-media industry. BuzzFeed also slashed its fourth-quarter sales outlook.
BuzzFeed said it had sold Complex to NTWRK, an online-shopping platform, for $108.6 million in cash. In 2021, it acquired Complex Networks, which at the time included Complex and First We Feast, for nearly $300 million in cash and stock. First We Feast was not sold to NTWRK and will stay under the BuzzFeed umbrella.
BuzzFeed also said it would lay off 16% of its remaining staff. That move, it said, would help it save $23 million in costs. The company said it would share more details on Feb. 28.
“The sale of Complex represents an important strategic step for BuzzFeed Inc. as we adapt our business to be more profitable, more nimble and more innovative,” Chief Executive Jonah Peretti said in a statement.
“This is also an opportunity to unlock greater value for the Complex brand by combining it with NTWRK’s expansive, commerce-driven business,” he added.
The move marks the latest contraction for BuzzFeed, which during the last decade rose to prominence on a keen sense for the nuances of social media. But the company has lost money, and its stock has tumbled since its public debut in 2021. BuzzFeed shut down its news division last year.
The media industry over the past two decades has struggled with online advertising and subscriptions, changes in social-media platforms’ priorities, and hedge-fund and investor profit pressure. The digital-ad market has remained wobbly since the pandemic.
Buzzfeed on Wednesday noted a “tighter digital-advertising market” in cutting its fourth-quarter sales outlook. The company said it expected fourth-quarter revenue of $73 million to $78 million, compared with a prior outlook $99 million to $110 million provided in November.
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