Roberts & Ryan hosted an investor call with Progress Software’s CFO, Anthony Folger, and their SVP of Investor Relations, Michael R. Micciche. It was a great conversation – we covered a lot in our 45 minutes together.
This is a stable, consistent business. Annual Recurring Revenue is steady, net retention rates are solid, and organic growth rates are dependably in the single digits. Anthony describes their strategy as “Patient”. He also emphasized that M&A is their #1 priority – that’s where they see real opportunity.
It’s a straightforward strategy. Buy companies that can benefit from the scale and expertise that Progress can provide. Companies with modest profit margins are good targets. Progress has gotten very good at integrating new companies into their portfolio and improving margins significantly.
Michael summarized their view on M&A opportunities:
· Are there M&A opportunities out there? – Yes, there are.
· Are we actively looking at these opportunities? – Yes, we are.
· Can we pay for them? – Yes, we can.
We want to thank Anthony, Michael, and the entire Progress Software team for giving us the opportunity to host this call! Check them out here: https://www.progress.com/
I also want to thank our friends at Seaport Research Partners for opening this call up to their client base. Seaport has a great team and we appreciate the partnership.
Progress Team:
Yogesh Gupta, Jeremy Segal, John Ainsworth, Loren Jarrett, Domenic Lococo, Ian Pitt, Brian Flanagan, YuFan Stephanie Wang, Jennifer Ortiz.
