Five US states join FTC suit against Hims & Hers over privacy practices

The Federal Trade Commission filed an amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday, adding Arizona, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin as co-plaintiffs alongside Utah and Los Angeles County, which joined the original suit in July 2026, according to TradingView. The case alleges Hims & Hers shared consumers' sensitive health information with advertising platforms including Meta and Snap despite representing that its services protected privacy. Regulators further claim the company charged for prescriptions almost immediately after users submitted intake forms, contrary to statements that customers would first consult a provider to find suitable treatment, and that it made subscriptions difficult to cancel. The company had previously termed the allegations "baseless" and last month filed a motion asking a California federal judge to dismiss the FTC's lawsuit; that motion is now set for hearing on January 7, TradingView reported.

Hims & Hers shares closed down 17% in Tuesday's regular session, the stock's worst day since June 2025, and slipped another 1% in after-hours trading, according to TradingView. The decline came as investors digested third-quarter results reported Monday after the close. Revenue rose 49% year-over-year to approximately $890 million but fell just short of expectations. The company swung to a surprise net loss of $33.0 million, or $0.14 per share, from net income of $15.8 million a year earlier, while Wall Street had expected profit of about $0.06 per share. Gross margin contracted to 57% from 74%, pressured by international expansion costs and a mix shift toward lower-margin branded offerings, and subscribers declined sequentially by about 100,000 as marketing was restrained. CEO Andrew Dudum described the subscriber losses as a deliberate trade-off to support higher-margin growth initiatives into 2027, and management warned of an "additional quarter of subscriber count headwinds." The company cut full-year 2026 adjusted core profit guidance to $257–$277 million — its third reduction this year — and tightened revenue guidance to $3.13–$3.15 billion, while guiding fourth-quarter revenue of $875 million–$895 billion, below Street estimates.