Chegg Inc. ($NYSE:CHGG) had its core business grind to a halt once the Coronavirus forced all schools to basically shut down for the year this month. The education tech company has three million subscribers to its digital textbooks and tutoring, but online services aren't what Chegg is really known for. It's known for renting textbooks, and without schools in session, students on campus, bookstores open, or any real possibility of increasing sales in the near future, Chegg will need to pivot, and fast.
It also doesn't help that the company is getting sued right now, but that's a different story.
Chegg increased its employee count on LinkedIn by 10% over the past three months, but in response to the global pandemic and universities shuttering for the school year, the stock fell 38% in the last four weeks.
In the last week alone, hiring dropped 26%.
To add insult to injury, Facebook likes have been declining, although at a slower rate, for the past few years. How a textbook peddler got so many likes on Facebook, to begin with, is beyond us, but it's good to know half a million people like their textbook provider enough to give it a like online.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Insurers are racing to get consumers' data - and they need automakers to help them gain scale
- Credit Karma data shows it was engaging more users - and weighing M&A
- Morgan Stanley will buy E*Trade - see the chart that foreshadowed the deal
