The new business is developing more slowly than hoped, while competition for the core product is growing.
(Photo: dpa)
The performance was remarkable: When the Teamviewer board members Oliver Steil and Stefan Gaiser explained to analysts on Wednesday why the software manufacturer’s business had lost momentum, they were remorseful, clearly naming the problems and admitting their own mistakes. They largely dispensed with euphemisms as you can hear them elsewhere.
It was appropriate for the situation. The unexpectedly weak quarterly result in combination with the significantly lower medium-term forecast calls into question the MDax Group’s investment thesis. The management is responsible for this. As a result, some analysts and shareholders raise the question of whether the tandem is the right leadership. Open analysis is the first step in proving otherwise.
In principle, Teamviewer is a financially sound company. Even in the disappointing third quarter, the software manufacturer increased sales and operated profitably. However, the management has aroused the expectation that the group can grow as quickly with its software for remote maintenance and control of PCs and other devices, such as Salesforce or Service Now. That seems unrealistic at the moment.
The stock market story sounds understandable: The team viewer management wants to digitize numerous work processes with the technology for secure networking, for example in industry and customer service. And it wants to strengthen sales and marketing outside of Europe. America is the largest software market in the world, and Asia has many emerging economies. It plans high investments for this.
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However, several implementation problems become apparent. The new business is developing more slowly than hoped, while competition for the core product is growing – at the expense of customer acquisition. And even if management presents a product for digital teaching more than a year and a half after the start of the corona pandemic, the question arises why it took so long.
Probably the biggest mistake, however, lies in the communication: The newcomer to the stock exchange aroused too high expectations and waited a long time with the correction. Possibly also because major shareholder Permira is demanding a return. This has massively damaged credibility and indirectly contributed to the big sell-off on the stock market. Teamviewer and management are now under special observation.
More: Teamviewer: What happens now after the crash on the stock exchange