shares of blue apron holdings inc tumbled thursday after the mealkit company reported a wider loss and revenue that fell while spending on marketing soared and is expected to increase even more this year the stock aprn sank 204 in afternoon trading enough to make it the biggest decliner listed on the new york stock exchange the stock was on track for the biggest oneday percentage decline since it dropped 215 on june 16 2021 the company reported before the opening bell a net loss that widened to 264 million or 93 cents a share from 119 million or 67 cents a share in the yearago period revenue fell 73 to 1070 million and was up 13 from the prepandemic fourthquarter of 2019 the one analyst that provided estimates to factset had projected a pershare loss of 75 cents and revenue of 1100 million orders declined 47 to 168 million and customers were down 40 to 336000 but average order value increased 24 to 6378 and average revenue per customer grew 19 to 319 meanwhile total operating expenses increased 60 to 13248 million as cost of goods sold slipped 10 to 6919 million but marketing expenses jumped 681 to 2098 million “this past quarter we significantly ramped up our marketing spend focusing on targeted investments that are helping to raise brand awareness” said chief executive linda findley in prepared remarks for a conference call with analysts the company also said higher logistics costs had a more significant impact on results that anticipated for 2022 the company said it expects marketing spending to continue to increase through the year to support expectations for faster revenue growth total marketing spend for the year is expected to be “around double” what was spent in 2019 which was 4813 million that implies 2022 marketing spend of roughly 963 million which compares with 4993 million spent in 2021 basically unless 2022 revenue grows by more than 93 from 2021 margins will remain pressured however the company said it expects 2022 revenue growth to be “at least” in the midteens percentage range ceo findley said after completing the 78 million capital raise in november she believes the company has the “financial foundation” to be more aggressive with its marketing push “while profitability remains a goal over the longer term we are focused on taking advantage of an important opportunity to accelerate customer and revenue growth” findley said blue apron’s stock has shed 348 over the past 12 months while the sp 500 index spx has rallied 164