Life360 shares surge at market open despite CEO change
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More news: Life360's stock, already on a tear for the past four months, shot up 13% to $43.10 as the ASX opened on Tuesday following the company handing down its second-quarter results.
The price movement shows investors are unconcerned about co-founder Chris Hulls stepping aside as chief executive after nearly 20 years in the role.
The second-quarter results gave the market much to be excited about, including record-breaking revenue and a lurch towards profitability.
What they said: "Overall we would expect the result to be well received," said E&P analyst Paul Mason.
"User growth is roughly in line with consensus but yields are ahead of expectations at the margin."
Life360 CEO says he hired Antonoff knowing she might replace him
More news: Speaking on Life360's earnings call on Tuesday morning, Chris Hulls explained that he hired Lauren Antonoff with her taking his job in mind.
"There was no promise, but we were hiring specifically saying this is a real possibility," Hull said. "This is a discussion we had with Lauren before she joined."
"We were able to get Lauren to take a COO offer instead of a CEO offer because of the opportunity."
Hulls explained that he will stay in his role as chairman, Hulls said he will focus on "high-stakes projects" and "product deep-dives". He said too that Antonoff is well-suited to operating at high scale, whereas his "heart is in the early stage."
The first question on the call, from Morgan Stanley's James Bales, was not about the leadership change but the company's slow-growing hardware division. Antonoff said pet tracking, which aims to boost the Tile division, will launch by the holiday season.
Life360 breaks records as CEO steps down
The news: Life360 has reported its quarterly revenue rose 36% year-on-year to hit USD115.4 million ($176 million), as paying users jumped 25%.
Life360 also announced that co-founder and CEO Chris Hulls would transition to a role as Executive Chair as COO Lauren Antonoff would become new chief executive.
The company said the transition from Hulls to Antonoff is the climax of a succession plan put in place two years ago. Antonoff spent two years in the role as COO, joining Life360 in 2023 after seven years in leadership roles at GoDaddy and nearly 20 years at Microsoft.
The numbers: Life360 reported net income of USD7 million, a vast improvement of its USD11 million less from quarter two in 2024.
The company's revenue was mostly buoyed by its subscriptions, which jumped 35% year-on-year to USD88.6 million from USD65.7 million.
The closely watched "Other revenue" segment, which encapsulates in-app advertising, doubled to USD14.5 million.
The weakest business line for Life360 is its hardware Tile sales, which rose only 3% to USD12.3 million. The company is hoping to change that with the introduction of pet and elderly trackers.
Capping off the results, Life360 lifted its guidance for the full year to USD462 million to USD482 — up from a range of USD450 million to USD480 million.
Positive adjusted EBITDA will fall between USD72 million and USD82 million, the company said, up from its earlier projections of USD65 million to USD75 million.
What they said: In a passing-the-torch moment, the earnings report featured commentary not from Hulls but new CEO Antonoff.
“We’re seeing the rise of what we call the Anxiety Economy," Antonoff said, "a shift where families are making more values-based decisions and prioritising peace of mind in how they spend. That’s driving sustained demand for services like ours that help people feel safer, more connected, and in control."
"Alongside strong subscription growth, we’re expanding our high-margin advertising platform with new location-based formats that enhance value without compromising the member experience."
In a separate release announcing her promotion, Hulls said: "Lauren and I share a bold vision for Life360, and we knew early on it would require a shift in operations to support the scale and speed at which we want to move."
"I couldn’t be more confident in Lauren’s ability to lead us forward. She brings rigour, heart, and deep product insight — and we’ve built a foundation of trust and alignment that makes this passing of the baton seamless.”
The source: Earnings report
