Adyen Plans November Investor Day After $23 Billion Wipeout

Dutch payments processing firm Adyen NV plans an investor day in November to ease concerns about its growth ambitions following a selloff in the shares.

(Bloomberg) — Dutch payments processing firm Adyen NV plans an investor day in November to ease concerns about its growth ambitions following a selloff in the shares. 

“We have met with a lot of our shareholders,” Chief Financial Officer Ethan Tandowsky said by phone after a roadshow for investors. “We find the dialog that we had with them in that setting really important, and we want to be able to continue that,” he said. 

The investor day will be held on Nov. 8, the company said. Adyen slipped 1% by 10:15 a.m. in Amsterdam. 

The fintech company had been a market favorite as it delivered revenue growth of at least 26% in every half-year since its 2018 listing, often shooting past the top end of its medium-term targeted growth range of between mid-twenties and low thirties in percent terms. But sentiment took a beating on Aug. 17 when Adyen surprised the market with its slowest revenue growth as a public company. 

The stock has lost more than €21 billion ($23 billion) in market value since then. Co-Chief Executive Officer Ingo Uytdehaage said last month the company had “lost some trust” and vowed to “very carefully” listen to its investors. 

Read more: Adyen Co-CEO Rules Out Buybacks After Stock Rout 

The Amsterdam-headquartered company will focus on its growth ambitions and strategic priorities at the investor day, Tandowsky said.

Pricing competition, higher inflation and rising interest rates slowed revenue growth in the first half. Yet, Adyen has said it won’t join the price fight even as competition heats up in North America, its second-largest market, driving some clients to migrate to cheaper competitors. It reiterated its medium-term guidance, but many analysts have questioned whether those goals need to be reset.  

Jefferies analyst Hannes Leitner called the move positive, saying the bank is looking to understand Adyen’s view of the payments market and its competitive positioning at the investor day.

“I do think it signals the market [that] Adyen management is actively working on answering investors’ concern around long-term growth opportunities for the company,” Leitner said in an email.

Visibility into Adyen’s growth has been clouded by its limited financial communication, according to industry watchers. Adyen only reports on a half-year basis, compared with peers that disclose earnings every quarter. Analysts have often depended on merchant data and commentary from rival payment-processing companies to look for signals on its growth. 

The next earnings report is expected in February, when it discloses full-year results. 

(Updates with details and share move in third paragraph and analyst comment in eighth paragraph)

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