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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Blue Apron, Amazon and Kroger

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 20, 2017 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Blue Apron (NYSE: Free Report), Amazon (Nasdaq:(AMZN - Free Report)  Free Report) and Kroger (NYSE:(KR - Free Report)  Free Report).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Blue Apron Shares Dip on Jobs Cuts, Corporate Realignment

On Thursday, shares of meal-kit company Blue Apron (NYSE: Free Report) are falling after the company announced it would be laying off 6% of its employees, or about 300 people. The stock is down about 1.3% to $5.24 per share in morning trading.

CEO Matt Salzberg described the decision as a “company-wide realignment” in an email to employees. According to CNBC, the layoffs affected salaried employees the most, and the company let go of a slew of workers within its marketing, software development, operations, and business development divisions at its New York headquarters.

“Our leadership and Board did not take this decision lightly, and I want to assure you that we believe it was necessary as we focus the company on future growth and achieving profitability,” wrote Salzberg.

“We have accomplished so much together over the past five years, and no words can adequately describe my appreciation for the work you do each day. I’m confident that the changes we made today will make our organization stronger and help us continue to improve the lives of our customers across the country,” he continued.

While job cuts are never the best news for a young company, it’s not entirely surprising for Blue Apron. The company has had a tough time ever since its IPO this past June--shares of APRN are down over 47%--an IPO that was completely overshadowed by Amazon’s (Nasdaq:(AMZN - Free Report) Free Report) decision to purchase Whole Foods. That acquisition announcement caused even more intense investor caution and scrutiny, and Blue Apron ended up slashing its intended price range.

Even though Blue Apron is still the biggest and most well-known meal-kit company out there, the competition is more aggressive than ever. From Amazon and Kroger (NYSE:(KR - Free Report) Free Report) jumping into the meal-kit and meal-prep game to rival HelloFresh planning to go public, it’s more important than ever that Blue Apron show investors and analysts that it can both retain customers and expand its base.

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Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1 Stock of the Day pick for free.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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