Momentive Global (NASDAQ: MNTV)

February 16 2023

Momentive Global (NASDAQ: MNTV), formerly SurveyMonkey, is a leading provider of cloud-based survey software products that enable companies to better engage with customers and employees. Founded as SurveyMonkey in 1999, and based in San Mateo, California, the company is best known for its flagship SurveyMonkey customer feed-back software. An out-of-favor stock, Momentive Global has had a storied history since its IPO five years ago.

The company, then known as SurveyMonkey, priced its 15 million share IPO at $12 per share on the NASDAQ on September 25th 2018. The underwriters subsequently exercised their option to purchase an additional 2.25 million shares. The IPO was led by J.P. Morgan Securities, Allen & Company and BofA Merrill Lynch. Credit Suisse, UBS, Wells Fargo, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Code Advisors, Foros, JMP Securities and LionTree Advisors.

Momentive Global is best known for its namesake SurveyMonkey cloud-based questionnaire software that is primarily used for customer feed-back, TechValidate, a marketing content automation software solution, and SurveyMonkey Engage, which is focused on internal employee surveys and feed-back.

In June of 2021, the company changed its name to Momentive Global, reflecting its wider range of customer and employee experience management offerings, which include the addition of market research services. In October of 2021, the company announced that it would be acquired by Zendesk in an all-stock transaction for roughly $4.1 billion. With the intent to expand from customer service to a broader market of global customer intelligence, Zendesk, at the time, appeared to be particularly interested in the SurveyMonkey portion of the business. However, the deal was ultimately rejected by Zendesk shareholders, and Zendesk was forced to terminate the transaction. Zendesk was ultimately taken private in June of last year in a $10 billion acquisition by an investor group led by Permira and Hellman and Friedman.

Today, more than 345,000 organizations around the world use one or more of MNTV’s products, and the company notes that it has over 17 million active users that draw on market insights, brand insights, as well as employee, customer, and product experiences. Over 95 percent of the Fortune 500 use a Momentive product.

In a measure to return cash to shareholders, the company initiated a share repurchase plan in February of 2022 with the intent to repurchase up to $200 million of its common stock. Through the first three quarters of last year, Momentive had repurchased $84 million. At the end of Q3, MNTV held $193 million in cash along with $183 million in debt, for a net cash position of $183 million. The company’s DSOs are 23 days, a reasonable level, attesting to the short-term nature of most of its customer contracts, which are said to be of a duration of one year or less. The company announced an 11 percent workforce reduction, coinciding with its Q3 2022 earnings results. Last month, the company appointed a new CFO, Rich Sullivan, whose experience includes stints at Dreamworks, Twitter, and AT&T.