Technology

Report by Smart Insider

Smart Insider flags a number of insider buys at Hexagon, Sage and ATOSS following recent share price weakness, ranking all 3 stocks +1 (highest rating). At HEXA, the new CEO, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice Chair made their first purchases, buying a combined €3.4m of stock, shortly after results and the announced spin-off of Octave Intelligence. At SGE, 2 long-serving non-execs bought stock, including one director tripling his holding in a rare purchase and at a higher price than his last buy 5 years ago. At AOF, the CEO invested €11.6m (adding 4% to his stake) and the long-tenured CFO made his first-ever purchase - a notable shift from a series of smaller sales.

Technology

Report by Iron Blue Financials

Iron Blue initiates coverage on HEXAB with a score of 34/60, which is top decile (fertile ground for shorting). Key areas of accounting focus include 1) Revenue recognition. 2) Stripped out one-off costs, share payments and PPA amortisation. 3) R&D capitalisations and contingent consideration releases. 4) Acquisition disclosures and strategy of buying HEXAB distributors. Regarding governance, they note the auditor lead partner’s relationship with HEXAB’s largest shareholder network, a non-independent board and committees, 2 classes of shares, CEO / CFO internal succession, Greenbridge relationship and unclear CEO annual bonus payout metrics. Iron Blue also flags a fairly large number of areas where disclosure could be improved.