Bakkt sees $155M pre-tax loss from VPC Impact Acquisition merger; shares slide

Bakkt (NYSE:BKKT) stock falls more than 5% out of the gate as the company expects to lose $150-155M on a pre-tax basis for the post-merger period, according to the company's preliminary Q4 results. Recall in mid-October when VPC Impact Acquisition (NASDAQ:VPCB) shareholders approved the merger with Bakkt (BKKT). Specifically, the anticipated losses from the business combination primarily came from a non-cash compensation estimated charge of $45-50M, an estimated acquisition-related expense of $2M, and a non-cash mark-to-market expense of approximately $79M. Furthermore, Bakkt (BKKT) will issue its Q4 and full year earnings on Feb. 17 before the market opens. Management will host a conference call on the same day at 9:00 a.m. ET. Meanwhile bitcoin (BTC-USD -2.5%) is slipping to $36.5K per token, another factor that may be pushing down BKKT's stock price. In January, Bakkt partnered with Nexo to custody bitcoin and ether.