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EIGI: Adjusted EBITDA is a Meaningless Metric, as It Does Not Correlate with Free Cash Flow – 4 Ques

  • Gotham City Research LLC
  • May 5, 2015
  • 2 min read

Gotham City Research expects:

  • EIGI will ‘beat’ its Adjusted EBITDA estimates today (just as we expect university students to ‘ace’ self-graded exams). EIGI has generated negative free cash flow each quarter it has “beat” Adj. EBITDA estimates.

  • Endurance will aggressively dangle its vague $500 million Adjusted EBITDA long-term goal, hoping to fool some investors into thinking that the previously disclosed $500 million figure is new information, when in fact, the $500 million target is old news from several months ago.

Gotham City Research believes investors will gain a more accurate understanding of the company’s health and prospects, by asking the following questions (for more information, read the report):

1. Average Revenue per Subscriber (ARPS): What are the total number of end subscribers and resellers you had for each year between 2012 and 2014? How many currently? What % of your total revenues are sourced from resellers for those years?

2. Churn Rate: What is EIGI’s monthly churn rate, from 2012-Present? You claim, “Our MRR retention rate was 99% for all periods presented”. How is this possible, given Endurance’s data center outages, under-investment in core infrastructure, negative customer/employee reviews, and industry peers’ skepticism regarding your implied churn?

3. International Revenue, Directi, and your undisclosed subsidiary

What was your 2014 International revenue?

Explain the Directi revenue inconsistencies found within your 2014 10K (that is, why do they not add up?) See our report for context.

Who is the “Domain Name Business” (i.e. the undisclosed subsidiary) that you “purchased from a company associated with the founders of Directi Holdings”?

Does your long-term target $500 million adjusted EBITDA suggest positive Free Cash Flow as well? Your historical Adjusted EBITDA has not corresponded with positive Free Cash Flow. In fact, you’ve generated negative Free Cash Flow each quarter you “beat” Adjusted EBITDA estimates.

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2 Comments


Marker
Apr 07

I’ve been burned before by companies pushing adjusted EBITDA while cash flow stayed negative. What finally helped me get a clearer picture of my own finances was using cash app https://cash-app.pissedconsumer.com/review.html to track my real inflows and outflows weekly, so I stopped fooling myself with “adjusted” versions of my spending. It’s been a simple but honest way to stay grounded, and I hope it can offer you the same clarity when you’re looking past the corporate spin. Thanks for sharing this reality check.

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farare janna
farare janna
Mar 02

Gotham City Research questions the reliability and substance of EIGI’s reported financial progress. The critique centers on two main concerns: Poor Bunny the quality of earnings (Adjusted EBITDA versus free cash flow) and the potential use of outdated targets to influence investor sentiment.

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