Ann: Becoming a substantial holder, page-37

I half agree with you in terms of the faddish nature of the business model. However, dependence on paid researchers is reducing as the company is increasingly using its AI engine in the Q&A business.

Q&A revenues were level with subscription in H1 and have grown again since then so now make up the majority. Profit margins for Q&A are much lower but there are signs these are improving:

"Operating margins improved in the March quarter as Artificial Intelligence and ChatBot initiatives continued to improve gross profitability and the returns on marketing investment increased from lower customer acquisition costs."

If they can keep growing the Q&A business and simultaneously lift margins then the struggling subscription division will soon become irrelevant.

Ultimately, if you believe they are doing $12 million underlying EBITDA as per Q3 and more importantly that it is sustainable then there is plenty of value here even if the business stagnates. Once debt is all repaid (which should be possible in the next 12 months), most of that EBITDA should convert to PBT.

Of course it's a different story if the business goes backwards but that's the opposite of what's happening at the moment.