Bird, a micro-mobility company, will be pulling out its scooters from several dozen countries in the US, the Middle East, and Africa. The company said that it will be leaving European countries like Germany, Sweden, and Norway.
Other than that, the transportation company is also planning to lay off some of its employees in the affected markets, as mentioned in The Verge. Although, Bird still has no announcements as to which cities it will be leaving.
Why Are They Leaving the Markets?
The company stated that it was a step toward its plan to achieve financial self-sustainability. Another reason given by the company, was that some of the cities did not have a regulatory framework that supports the development of a micro-mobility industry.
They continued by saying that this has resulted in the oversupply of their vehicles in certain areas, leading to overcrowded streets, and competitors that are able to function without the said framework.
With the invariability, there have been sizeable losses. In turn, this will lead to the company not being able to invest in making micro-mobility safer and more sustainable. Despite that, Bird also expressed optimism about redoubling its efforts in cities that can support their scooters by having mature regulatory systems.
Strong Winds for a Bird
This could be the result of several position changes within the company. Former CEO, Travis VanderZanden, has been replaced by the chief operating officer and president, Shane Torchiana. When the financials of the company were not getting any better, other executives also decided to jump ship.
Other notable departures include Rebecca Hahn, who was the company's head of communications, as well as their general counsel Wendy Mantell. Justin Kan, the co-founder of Twitch and a Bird board member, also resigned after the change in leadership. This might be due to the fact that he believed that he had a relationship with the former CEO.
The market capitalization of Bird is now at $110 million. This is a mere four percent of their valuation in January 2020, which was $2.8 billion. According to Oversharing, the electric scooter has lost an astounding 95% of its value, leaving it at $0.40 per share.
The New York Stock Exchange had already warned Bird that they will be delisted if their stock doesn't come back to $1 per share or more. Bird has six months to correct its stock price plummet. After that, they will have to maintain the stock price for a 30-day period.
So far, Bird has already gone through half of the time it was given, and there have been no signs of an increase at all. In fact, the stock has actually decreased further. Bird still has the chance to turn its luck around until its 2023 annual meeting. They would do this by considering options like the reverse stock split, but it needs stockholder approval to be done.
