Realogy’s much-lauded partnership with Amazon is the latest victim of the coronavirus.
The brokerage conglomerate on Thursday announced that it suspended the partnership, dubbed TurnKey. CEO Ryan Schneider said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call that Covid-19 and the need for social distancing “eviscerated” the value of partnership, which offered Realogy buyers up to $5,000 in Amazon smart-home products, as well as deep cleaning services and furniture assembly.
“We and Amazon had a decision point on the next phase in April. In a Covid world, bluntly, it didn’t make sense to continue that pilot,” he said.
When TurnKey was first announced last year, Realogy touted the partnership as an innovation that would “hopefully let people who follow our equity see the future potential of our company.” Initially, Realogy’s stock soared 19 percent before dropping, as analysts said even the blockbuster deal was not a panacea for a company that had struggled with agent retention and debt.
The program was available in 15 markets across the U.S., including Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando and Tampa.
During the first quarter of 2020, Realogy reported a net loss of $462 million, compared to a net loss of $99 million in 2019.
Revenue rose 6 percent to $1.1 billion, reflecting strong sales volume before the pandemic struck.
As of midday, Realogy stock was trading around $4.50 per share, up from Wednesday’s closing price of $3.70 per share. Both figures are lower than $8.46 per share a year ago.
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