The hits just keep on coming for Blue Apron.
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Amazon deals yet another huge blow to Blue Apron (APRN)
Blue Apron's stock price is falling even further after a report that Amazon filed a trademark application for meal kits.
Amazon and Jeff Bezos delivered another blow to the much-maligned Blue Apron after filing a trademark application for meal kits.
After already suffering the indignity of trading below its offering price every day since its initial public offering 2 1/2 weeks ago, the meal-kit retailer now faces a new hurdle — and surprise, surprise, Amazon is once again the culprit.
The Jeff Bezos-led juggernaut filed a trademark application on July 6 for "prepared food kits," as reported by TheStreet.com's Laura Berman early Monday morning.
Blue Apron's stock sank 11% to $6.55 as of 2:16 p.m. ET. It now sits 35% below its IPO price of $10 a share.
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It's just the latest Amazon-fueled hit absorbed by the flailing Blue Apron, which took a cleaver to its IPO range in the week before pricing following Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods. Many potential investors identified the possibility of more competition in the food-delivery industry and ran the other way. As such, Blue Apron trimmed its IPO range to $10 to $11 a share, down from $15 to $17.
Blue Apron's current price, however, looks downright bullish compared with the $2-a-share price target it received from Northcoast Research, the first Wall Street firm to weigh in on the company.
While Blue Apron is perhaps the most extreme example, its plight highlights the unfortunate reality facing many companies in the retail industry: Amazon is coming, and there's nowhere to hide.
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