UiPath's shares hit by war in Ukraine and sales-leadership change

After its financial results of the fiscal year ended on January 31 failed to meet analysts' expectations, the shares of the Romania-born unicorn UiPath decreased by 8% on March 30.

The management's bearish forecast for the first quarter of the next financial year, impacted by the war in Ukraine, further pushed down the company's shares to an all-time intraday low of USD 20.6 in Thursday's (March 31) trading session, 29.1% lower than Wednesday's closing price and well below the maximum quotation of USD 90, reached almost a year ago.

The severe penalty faced by UiPath's actions was prompted on the one hand by the results for the year just ended (losses of 12 cents per share, compared to an analyst estimate of 7 cents per share) and the publication of forecasts for the new fiscal year, which are also weaker than expected by analysts (revenue of USD 225 mln for Q1 2023 compared to analysts' expectations of USD 236 mln), Ziarul Financiar reported.

Executives also blamed the forecast shortfall on the change at the top of the sales structure, as well as the continuing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. UiPath has customers in the region, and executives said the conflict would disrupt their business.

"Looking ahead, we feel confident in our market-leading position in automation and prospects for future growth at scale but believe it is prudent at this time to factor both our European exposure and go-to-market leadership transition into the financial outlook," Chief Executive Daniel Dines said in a statement.

(Photo source: Facebook/UiPath)