Purplebricks (LON: PURP) will be reporting its much anticipated interim results this week, with Moonpig (LON: MOON) updating the market on its half-year.

Purplebricks

Purplebricks will report its interim results for the six months to the end of October on Thursday, December 8, which will be the first indication of how the company’s turnaround strategy is performing.

In the company’s final results, reported in August, Purplebricks CEO Helena Marston said her turnaround plan for the company included initiatives that they expect to drive higher instructions, grow revenues, reset its cost base and raise standards.

However, given the current economic climate, the housing sector has been pressured, and demand has declined. So, in general, we lean bearish on the UK housing market, although we are unsure how far the fall will be. 

Focusing on Purplebricks, we can see demand is on the slide with website traffic during the reporting period, according to Semrush, sliding to around 728k in November. 

In addition, Google Trends data shows that searches for “Purplebricks” in the UK over the last five years have steadily moved lower since a high in January 2018. 

Based on customer demand for its services and the many challenges the company faces, we aren’t too optimistic about Purplebricks right now, despite the turnaround plan.

Moonpig

Moonpig will report its half-year results on Wednesday, December 7.

Despite a recent rise in Moonpig’s share price, +14% in the last month, the stock is down over 58% in 2022. The stock has caught the eye of short-sellers with funds such as GLG Partners, BennBridge, and JPMorgan Asset Management, opening up short positions in the stock.

According to ShortTracker, five firms have short positions on Moonpig. 

In a trading update released in September, the company said trading is in line with its expectations and remains “resilient.”

However, website traffic tells a different story, declining from its 2021 highs, showing demand is on the wane.

While not as obvious, Google Trends data shows worldwide searches over the last five years for Moonpig are also falling, reaffirming the theory that demand continues to fall. Are the short-sellers right?

We think they could be.