Andrew Harte

Andrew Harte asked for examples of opportunities opened by Strategy's credit rating, expectations for conversations with large institutional investors, and Michael Saylor's advice for new Bitcoin investors navigating current market volatility.

Answer

CFO Andrew Kang stated the credit rating created a public profile, opening interest from investors, though it's still early for large institutional demand. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor noted an unprecedented number of invitations to financial conferences. His advice for Bitcoin capital investment is a minimum 4-year time horizon with a DCA approach, intending to hold for a decade. For those unable to stomach volatility or long waits, he recommended STRC credit for its 11% tax-deferred yield and lower volatility.

Andrew Harte from BTIG, LLC asked about the specific doors opened by Strategy's credit rating, the nature of conversations with large institutional investors, and Michael Saylor's advice for new Bitcoin investors during periods of high volatility.

Answer

CFO Andrew Kang noted the credit rating created a public profile, opening interest from investors, though it's still early for large institutional demand. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor described an 'unprecedented number of invitations' to conferences, advising new Bitcoin investors to adopt a minimum 4-year time horizon with a dollar-cost averaging approach and intent to hold for a decade. For those unable to stomach volatility or long waits, he recommended buying STRC (digital credit) for its 11% tax-deferred yield and lower volatility.

Andrew Harte inquired about the early impact and strategic direction from the new Chief Revenue Officer, Gabe Benavides, on Lightspeed's go-to-market engines, particularly looking ahead to fiscal year 2027.

Answer

CEO Dax Dasilva stated that Lightspeed's inbound sales remain strong, but the focus is on increasing productivity from outbound remote and field investments. He expects Gabe's expertise to significantly accelerate the partnerships business, building on existing successes with ERP vendors like NetSuite in retail and distribution deals in hospitality, driving future opportunities.

Andrew Harte asked for clarification on the factors influencing Lightspeed's Q4 gross profit guidance of 12% compared to 15% in Q3, specifically inquiring about assumptions for GTV and payments penetration. He also asked about the early insights and strategic direction from the new Chief Revenue Officer, Gabriel Benavides, regarding go-to-market strategies for fiscal year 2027.

Answer

CFO Asha Bakshani explained that the Q4 guidance primarily reflects typical seasonal softness in GTV during the January to March quarter, which historically sees a 15%-20% drop across the industry. CEO Dax Dasilva stated that the focus with CRO Gabriel Benavides is to enhance productivity from the 150 newly hired outbound sales reps and to significantly grow the partnerships business, building on existing successes in retail (e.g., NetSuite) and EMEA hospitality distribution deals, which are expected to accelerate in the mid-to-long term.

Andrew Harte from BTIG inquired about the progress of the direct sales team ramp-up, asking if hiring was complete and how close the team is to reaching full productivity.

Answer

CEO Bruce Lowthers responded that the sales team has grown by approximately 56% since Q2 2023. He stated that productivity per rep in the enterprise segment has remained constant despite the growth. For the SMB group, the telesales team's productivity has increased, while the in-market team has been weaker and is undergoing adjustments.

Andrew Harte of BTIG inquired about the visibility Paysafe has into its sales pipeline to achieve the guided second-half revenue acceleration. He also asked for expectations on Q2 EBITDA margin and the potential exit rate for the year.

Answer

CEO Bruce Lowthers affirmed strong visibility, citing a robust Q1 for enterprise sales and the best SMB sales month in over a year in April. He highlighted that new customers will ramp up throughout the year. CFO John Crawford projected the Q2 EBITDA margin to be similar to Q1, with an acceleration in the second half to levels above the full-year guide, potentially reaching a 28-30% range in Q4 as merchant segment costs normalize and gross margins improve.

Andrew Harte asked for any additional details regarding the takeover interest mentioned in the press release. He also inquired about the target customers and focus areas for 2025 now that the portfolio is rationalized, and requested specifics on the Merchant segment's gross profit growth outlook and the potential dollar value of the divestiture earn-out.

Answer

CEO Bruce Lowthers declined to comment on specific takeover inquiries but affirmed the board's diligence, noting such interest was expected post-turnaround. He highlighted the focus on cross-selling, with a third of customers now buying multiple products, and balanced growth across key verticals. CFO John Crawford added that the divestiture earn-out is minimal for 2025 but could reach up to $50 million over five years, and that Merchant segment profit growth would be back-half weighted in 2025.

Andrew Harte inquired about the 2025 outlook for portfolio optimization revenue, the ramp-up of the Revolut partnership, and the margin impact from exiting higher-risk merchants.

Answer

CEO Bruce Lowthers confirmed that the portfolio optimization initiative is trending positively against its $50 million 2024 target, providing strong visibility for 2025 growth. He also noted the Revolut partnership will continue to expand in 2025, supplemented by new deals like the one with Deutsche Bank. CFO Alexander Gersh and CEO Bruce Lowthers both addressed margins, confirming that exiting high-margin but unsustainable merchants had a planned impact, but that overall EBITDA margin expanded 70 basis points from H1 2024, with further expansion expected in 2025.

Andrew Harte asked about the 'Better Together' strategy, inquiring about the most common product add-ons to POS and PAR's competitive position in the online ordering space, especially following recent industry M&A.

Answer

CEO Savneet Singh stated that for the Operator Cloud, the most common attachments are payments and back office (ParOps). For the Engagement Cloud, it's PAR Ordering. Singh expressed high confidence in PAR's online ordering product, noting its deep integration with loyalty creates a competitive advantage that is driving significant new wins and will also pull through future payments revenue.

Andrew Harte of BTIG, LLC asked about the scale of the multiproduct cross-sell opportunity, the financial headwind from the paused Burger King rollout in Q1, and the potential duration of growth from the four recent Tier 1 wins.

Answer

CEO Savneet Singh estimated the total cross-sell opportunity could increase revenue by at least 4x if all customers adopted all products. He highlighted that the company achieved 18% organic growth despite the Burger King pause, demonstrating underlying strength. Singh clarified that the four major Tier 1 wins have been secured but are not yet fully rolled out, providing a significant backlog and revenue visibility for the next couple of years.

Andrew Harte asked how conversations with enterprise CTOs have evolved with the 'Better Together' strategy. He also inquired about potential drivers for growth to exceed 20% in 2025, considering the integration of recent acquisitions like Stuzo and TASK.

Answer

CEO and President Savneet Singh stated the 'Better Together' strategy is resonating, as evidenced by all Q4 POS deals being multi-product. For growth drivers, he cited the faster growth profiles of recent acquisitions, the potential to exceed conservative rollout plans for major customers, performance-based pricing in PAR Retail, and getting deals live ahead of schedule.

Andrew Harte asked for clarification on the revenue and margin differences between the core aggregator and XO Swap, given XO Swap's volume acceleration to 30% in Q1. He also inquired about the most effective marketing channels for brand acceleration and the company's outlook for user growth, particularly for the Quarterly Funded Users (QFU) metric.

Answer

CFO James Gernetzke attributed the Q1 XO Swap outperformance to a successful promotional campaign by a partner, noting this can cause short-term lumpiness. He confirmed XO Swap has lower margins due to its revenue-share model and stated that while it could become a larger part of the business, the core wallet business also has strong growth potential. CEO J. Richardson addressed marketing, explaining their strategy is a mix of proven channels like Apple search ads, high-profile event sponsorships like the Crypto Ball for brand awareness, and leveraging Web3 influencers, a lesson learned from the Echo demo's growth.

Andrew Harte of BTIG asked about the potential impact of the recent price increases for ACH and check payments on the take rate for the upcoming fiscal year.

Answer

CEO René Lacerte clarified that the Q4 impact will be minimal due to rollout timing. For fiscal 2026, he expects a positive benefit but positioned the change as one part of a broader strategy to optimize pricing and packaging. He emphasized that subscription fees will become an increasingly important growth driver, as the company works to better align its pricing with the value delivered to customers.

Asked for the rationale behind believing the shift in transaction behavior is temporary, whether the Amigo Paisano acquisition boosted digital growth figures, and if strong customer acquisition metrics encourage more aggressive digital investment.

Answer

Management clarified they *think* (not are confident) the behavior will revert because it's not tied to historical drivers like FX, and may be due to temporary consumer fears. The 70% digital growth was confirmed to be organic. Strong acquisition metrics reinforce their plan to keep investing as scheduled, with a long-term vision of becoming a broader financial services provider.

Andrew Harte of BTIG sought clarity on why management believes the consumer shift to fewer, larger transactions is not a long-term trend. He also asked for clarification on the drivers of the 70% digital growth and whether strong customer acquisition metrics would prompt more aggressive investment.

Answer

CEO Robert Lisy clarified they 'think,' but are not confident, the behavior will revert, as it's historically been tied to temporary FX events, though the current cause is uncertain. He was emphatic that the 70% digital growth was entirely organic year-over-year, not aided by acquisitions. CDO Marcelo Theodoro added that they are confident in their plan and will continue investing as scheduled, noting that new value-added services are increasing customer lifetime value.

Andrew Harte asked for clarification on macroeconomic trends in Mexico, specifically whether positive June trends persisted, and questioned the company's growth assumptions. He also sought details on the European business, including its current size and the go-to-market strategy for its digital expansion.

Answer

CEO Robert Lisy clarified that the positive June trend in Mexico was a short-lived anomaly driven by peso volatility and did not continue. He detailed his belief that while the overall market grew, the retail segment contracted, which impacts Intermex due to its current channel mix. Lisy noted that Europe is a low-single-digit percentage of the business but presents a significant digital opportunity because its consumer base is more banked. The strategy involves expanding into Germany, France, and the UK, contingent on securing banking relationships.

Andrew Harte asked for clarification on macroeconomic trends, specifically whether the positive June remittance data for Mexico was sustained, and questioned the company's previous growth assumptions. He also inquired about the scale of the European business and the go-to-market strategy for its digital offerings in that region.

Answer

CEO Robert Lisy clarified that the positive June trend in Mexico was a short-lived spike due to peso volatility and was not sustained. He detailed that while the overall market grew, the retail segment likely contracted. Regarding Europe, Mr. Lisy stated it's currently a low-single-digit percentage of the business but has significant growth potential, especially in digital, due to higher consumer bank account penetration. The strategy involves expanding the retail footprint and investing in digital marketing to capture this opportunity.

Andrew Harte from BTIG inquired about the balance between net-new and cross-sell growth, the ability to lean on cross-selling in a downturn, and the drivers of spread expansion in restaurants.

Answer

Taylor Lauber, President and incoming CEO, explained that growth is typically split 50/50 between net-new and cross-sell, but the cross-sell funnel becomes more valuable in tough economic times as merchants look to consolidate vendors. CFO Nancy Disman attributed the restaurant spread expansion to SkyTab's success, a favorable merchant size mix, and stability in the legacy business.

Andrew Harte of BTIG asked for a breakdown of the strong 19% ARPU growth, specifically the contribution from non-payments, and questioned the outlook for gross margin decline in the second half of the year.

Answer

CFO Peter Benavides explained that ARPU growth was driven by both Pay and non-Pay components, with non-Pay trends similar to non-Pay revenue growth. He highlighted strong momentum in the high-margin Catering+ module as a key driver. Regarding gross margin, he noted that excluding one-time items, the Q2 sequential decline was only 50 basis points, better than expected, due to the outperformance of high-margin Order and Engage suites and the durability of digital ordering transaction growth.