Seeking Alpha • Oct 26
UserTesting: Good Business, Bad Investment
Summary
UserTesting, Inc. allows businesses to observe and watch real people who have opted in as they interact with products or services in order to obtain an authentic perspective.
UserTesting’s system examines different points of view using machine learning and brings important insights to companies in record time and on a massive scale.
In light of the information presented and the way things are currently standing, UserTesting does not strike me as an attractive investment opportunity when set alongside other possibilities.
UserTesting, Inc. (USER) is a software as a service (SaaS) provider that takes the form of a platform. It gives businesses the ability to see and hear the experiences of customers as those customers interact with products, designs, applications, processes, concepts, or brands. In order for businesses to acquire a profound comprehension of what it is actually like to be a customer, they need to continually interact with, listen to, and observe their customers in person. This is made possible by the platform known as UserTesting, which allows businesses to observe and watch real people who have opted in as they interact with products or services in order to obtain an authentic perspective. This enables USER's customers to have improved experiences, which in turn drives growth, increases customer loyalty, and increases market share.
Company Presentation
USER’s system examines different points of view using machine learning and brings important insights to companies in record time and on a massive scale. By harnessing the potential of video to drive alignment and action, this aids businesses in saving time and money while also improving the quality of their choices about the customer experience. Companies are attempting to find new ways to set themselves apart in a competitive market by providing superior customer service and innovative products. To do this, businesses are investing billions on data analytics. The distance between an organization's view of its customer-centricity and the view of its customers remains wide despite these efforts. The "empathy gap" is the chasm between businesses and their customers, which often results in subpar service for the end user.
Company Presentation
The power of the UserTesting Human Insight Platform is the ability to capture and analyse Customer Experience Narratives (CxNs):
CxNs are digitally recorded video narratives from targeted, opt-in audiences from our unique UserTesting Contributor Network or an organisation’s own network. These video-based recordings capture the perspectives and experiences of these audiences in narrative form. Our technology enables our contributors or customers of an organisation to record their screen or actions on camera as they consider and engage with products, designs, processes, concepts, or brands. As a result, we capture a broad array of human signals needed to truly understand a human experience, including: intonation and tone of voice, facial expressions, body language, visuals, and actions (both digital and real world), all overlaid with a person’s thoughts spoken out loud as they go through an experience.
2021 Annual Report.
Company Presentation
This rich and immersive format gives businesses a bird's eye view of their clients' reactions to the products and services they have developed and provided. USER had over 2,300 clients as of December 31, 2021, including more than half of the top 100 most valuable companies in the world, according to Forbes, and more than 300 significant customers with at least $100,000 in annual recurring revenue ((ARR)).
FactSet, Analyst Est
It is important to contextualize the role in which USER plays within organizations. Much is priced in due to the sentiment around cost cutting from companies and the consolidation in software platforms used for BAU. This has been the bear case against USER since the IPO and has caused the subsequent drop in share price.
Yes, I mean, we co-exist often with some type of tool for doing quantitative analysis, kind of a survey type tool. We often coexist with some kind of analytics or measurement tool, so folks want to know what people are clicking on and their apps and things like that. Those are often even used by different teams in an organization. Our tool is primarily used by a design research team, a UX research team, to really get feedback on how people interact with a UI that might not even be in production. We see a lot of prototype testing on our platform. Again, what you're just not going to be able to do with production analytics, or, for example, you can't survey your customer base about a UI they've never seen before. We don't see a lot of displacement risks from a consolidation standpoint. I think for us, it's really just around companies continuing to invest in those teams that are supporting the UX research efforts that are going on in their product organizations
Andy MacMillan, CEO, Q2 Earnings Call.
Company Presentation
Financial Breakdown
When one looks at the income sheet, it's easy to get the impression that USER is just another technology firm that's losing money. Despite the fact that this is true, it does not represent the opportunity that is currently available. Consequently, the company's profitability will inevitably be constrained in the short term, but this stage of the business's development will pave the way for expansion in the longer run. The balance sheet for USER is solid, exhibiting a substantial negative net debt position well in advance of the initial public offering. This affords the management team the flexibility to restructure and adjust their strategy in response to the macro environment as they deem appropriate.
Company Report
On a relative basis USER’s 73.8% drop in price since the IPO has brought the valuation down to earth as such. This however has to be effectively judged as to whether there is much more room to continually grow given USER's market penetration. As is evident with the growth in Gross Margin, the profitability can be achieved within a few years as forecast by management. This comes on the back of significant restructuring to facilitate the macro environment.