Why Jumia Stock Skyrocketed Today

Jumia Technologies (NYSE: JMIA) stock surged in Thursday's trading. The African e-commerce company's share price ended the day's trading up 19.7% and had been up as high as 26.1% earlier in the session.

After the market closed yesterday, Jumia published preliminary unaudited key performance indicators (KPIs) for the two-month period ending Nov. 30. The company reported better-than-expected growth for orders placed, active customers, and gross merchandise volume (GMV) during a key sales stretch, and investors bid up the stock in response.

Jumia breaks out holiday-window KPIs

Over the two-month period ending Nov. 30, Jumia's platform recorded 4.3 million adjusted orders -- up 18% compared to the prior-year period. Of those orders, 62% were placed during the company's Black Friday event. Total active customers increased by 9% year over year, and GMV was up 33%. These reported results and comparisons exclude contributions from the South African and Tunisian markets, which the company will be exiting by the end of the year.

What comes next for Jumia?

Jumia stock has been highly volatile this year. The company's share price has climbed roughly 28.5% across 2024's trading, but its also down roughly 69% from its 52-week high. Looking further out, the e-commerce specialist's share price trades off roughly 93% from the lifetime high it reached not long after the company's 2019 initial public offering (IPO).

While the long-term expansion outlook for e-commerce services in Africa is very promising, Jumia's run as a publicly traded company has been marked by uneven performance and concerns about business visibility and outlook. The company's recently reported look at performance across the recently concluded two-month period suggests encouraging momentum on some fronts, but it remains to be seen to what extent the recent momentum can be built upon.

Significant growth for GMV and the overall number of orders placed across the period is a clear bullish indicator. But with 62% of overall orders across the stretch being placed during the company's Black Friday event, it remains to be seen how well the business will sustain momentum outside of promotional periods.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.