Piper Jaffray analyst Sam Kemp said Groupon reported strong Q4 gross profit and EBITDA and he believes the lower than expected North America Local billing growth of 2.5% is largely explained by an accounting headwind created by the shift to Groupon+. His first take on the company's 2018 EBITDA guidance is that it implies a significant ramp in international marketing and "heavy levels of conservatism," said Kemp, who thinks the implied gross profit view is in line with consensus expectations. He would be a buyer of the stock on the pullback and maintains his Overweight rating and $6.25 price target on Groupon shares, which are down nearly 9% to $4.75 in early trading.

Bullish option flow detected in Groupon with 5,357 calls trading, 1.6x expected, and implied vol increasing almost 4 points to 115.04%. May-24 9 puts and Apr-24 11 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 4,500 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.61. Earnings are expected on May 8th.