The Situation
After a highly successful IPO in 2021, this global cross border payments company, which connects blue-chip global merchants to emerging markets consumers, saw its share price more than triple within its first three months of trading. The Company consistently beat its targets and continued to quickly expand its geographic reach, but the stock declined with the overall market and was hit hard by a short seller report that came out at the end of 2022 alleging fraud. The Company’s audit committee conducted an external investigation to reassure stakeholders about the business and the claims were ultimately found to be baseless. But while the stock price began to slowly recover, it was clear that a much more proactive outreach program by company management was required to regain market confidence, reinforce its track record of strong performance and demonstrate the vast opportunity that lay ahead.
With ongoing activism and negative media coverage, the Company engaged InspIR Group to assist with its inaugural Investor Day. However, the timeline was tight: the Investor Day was scheduled within only two months, also with the Company’s second quarter earnings results during the Investor Day preparation period. Additionally, the Company had only one dedicated IR professional. InspIR therefore quickly assumed the role of an extension of the Company’s very lean internal IR team.
Goals and Strategy to Address Share Discount
The Investor Day’s goal was to broaden visibility, showcase the opportunities, highlight strengths, and address pre-conceived misperceptions about the Company.
The Company also wanted to attract top-tier institutional investors and new analysts to its story.
Developing an Impactful Investor Day
InspIR worked with the Company to develop the agenda and overarching themes. We interviewed each presenting speaker and provided best practice benchmarks as well as suggested outlines for the content to be presented. We also managed the content look and feel by working iteratively with each speaker team. As part of the assignment, our team updated the Company’s five-year TAM introduced at the IPO for the 40 countries in which the Company operated. We also worked with the CFO to deliver a financial metrics benchmark to broaden disclosure and hone in on the updated guidance the Company would be presenting.
InspIR conducted one-on-one and group dry-run rehearsals with presenting management, suggested innovative formats and advised on opportunities to maximize ROI on management travel to New York, including one-on-one meetings through target investment banks.
Tangible Results
More than 180 financial community members attended the Investor Day event in person or through the simultaneous webcast. 30 new institutional investors, including top-tier institutions, and seven new sell-side brokers were introduced to the Company story.
Along with sell-side analyst new initiations, covering analyst sell-side reports following the event replicated the company’s messaging.
The stock price increased on the day of the event; a more than 30% increase in less than one month from pre-Investor Day levels. Importantly, the Company radically decoupled from its listed peers and began trading at a premium.
