J. Parker Lane

Jeffrey Parker Lane asked about the implications of Sprout Social's new sub-$30K strategy, particularly concerning existing customers in that cohort. He inquired if the changes would lead to elevated churn or altered service, or if the strategy primarily focuses on new customer acquisition. He also asked about the expected trend of the dollar-based net retention rate (NDR) throughout 2026, given the step-down observed in 2025.

Answer

Ryan Barretto (CEO, Sprout Social) clarified that the sub-$30K strategy is centered on a new, purpose-built product for customers with lower social maturity and marketing needs, with aligned pricing. This offering is distinct from what existing, more sophisticated customers use, and aims to efficiently support new customers, reducing acquisition and service costs. Regarding NDR, Mr. Barretto attributed the 2025 pressure to expansion challenges, offset by gross retention improvements. He anticipates continued gross retention improvement and better expansion in 2026 due to new products, suggesting potential upside for the metric.

Jeffrey Parker Lane inquired about the expected trend of Sprout Social's dollar-based net retention rate (NDR) throughout 2026, given the 4-point (or 6-point excluding SMB) step down observed in 2025.

Answer

Ryan Barretto, CEO, attributed the 2025 NDR pressure primarily to expansion challenges, while noting year-over-year improvements in gross retention. For 2026, he anticipates continued gross retention improvements and better expansion driven by new products like NewsWhip, Guardian, and Trellis, suggesting potential upside to the NDR metric.

J. Parker Lane asked about the impact of anniversaring the new seat-based pricing model, inquiring about trends in gross retention and Net Revenue Retention (NRR) as cohorts mature on the new model.

Answer

CFO Kathryn Bueker confirmed that HubSpot continues to see strong momentum from the seat-based pricing change, with consistent seat upgrade trends. She noted that customer migrations are proceeding as planned, with most expected to be complete by the end of 2025. Bueker reiterated that the expected year-over-year increase of a couple of points in NRR is largely driven by the tailwinds from this pricing model change.

Parker Lane inquired about the partner enablement programs for HubSpot's new AI solutions and the company's long-term vision for the role partners will play in developing business-specific AI agents.

Answer

CEO Yamini Rangan stated that partners are very excited about the AI vision and have a huge role to play. While HubSpot is developing the first set of agents, the long-term vision is to provide a platform for partners to build agents on top. She noted that partner enablement is strong, with executive briefings at INBOUND and incentives to inspire partners to offer AI services and solutions to customers.

J. Parker Lane inquired about the market penetration of Q2's fraud solutions and whether the company's confidence in future renewals is based on customer count or contract value.

Answer

CEO Matt Flake stated that fraud solutions are a key driver in both new deals and expansions, with significant growth potential. CFO Jonathan Price clarified that the strong renewal outlook for 2025-2026 is based on a similar number of customer logos coming up for renewal compared to the 2023-2024 period.

J. Parker Lane of Stifel asked for a breakdown of the success drivers for Q2's fraud products, questioning the influence of legacy tool replacement versus market demand. He also asked for quantification of the 'out of scope' portion of the renewals that comprised 10% of the digital banking base in the quarter.

Answer

CEO Matt Flake attributed the success of fraud products to the surge in digital banking utilization and associated fraud since the pandemic. He emphasized Q2's long-term investment in these tools and the intrinsic data advantages of its single-platform architecture. CFO Jonathan Price declined to quantify the out-of-scope renewal portion but confirmed it was higher than typical for both the quarter and the full year, significantly contributing to the record renewal performance.

J. Parker Lane from Stifel requested a more detailed explanation for the forecasted sequential revenue decline in the Create segment. He also sought clarification on whether there is a fixed timeline for transitioning away from legacy ad models or if it's a moving target based on Vector's performance.

Answer

CFO Jarrod Yahes explained that the sequential decline in Create is primarily due to the expected runoff of nonstrategic revenues. He reaffirmed the strong double-digit growth in the core subscription business. CEO Matthew Bromberg clarified that the cutover to Vector has already happened, meaning the legacy and new models are no longer running in parallel, which will reduce duplicate cloud costs in H2 2025.

J. Parker Lane inquired about the 2025 pipeline for the Industries business and the competitive landscape for enterprise deals, and also asked about the R&D investment required for Unity Vector.

Answer

CEO Matthew Bromberg highlighted the 50% YoY growth in the Industries business and a strategy to complement existing 'pull' demand with a more proactive 'push' go-to-market effort. He stated that the vast majority of R&D groundwork for Vector is complete, with future costs mainly related to cloud infrastructure for model training.

J. Parker Lane from Stifel asked which areas, such as SMS attach rates, international traction, or messaging volume, were accounted for with greater sensitivity in the company's prudent guidance.

Answer

CFO Amanda Whalen responded that the company modeled multiple scenarios and that the business tends to have less volatility because it indexes to digital relationships rather than GMV. CEO Andrew Bialecki added that as long as the ROI on channels like SMS remains strongly positive, customers are not constraining budgets, which provides confidence.

J. Parker Lane asked for details on Blackbaud's strategy to achieve its Rule of 45 target by 2030, specifically focusing on the drivers for bottom-line improvement and whether any low-hanging fruit for cost savings exists.

Answer

CEO Mike Gianoni outlined a multi-faceted approach, including continued mid-single-digit revenue growth, achieving greater scale, realizing labor arbitrage through its India expansion, and leveraging internal AI for productivity. He also noted that closing remaining data centers will contribute. CFO Tony Boor added that the path to Rule of 45 will not be linear, with some benefits like data center consolidation having a more significant, stair-step impact in later years.