ShiftPixy (PIXY)

[maraj]

It has been a long time since I contributed a stock idea to the boards so here we go with my stock ShiftPixy (PIXY).

The company first started business in only 2015 so they are a VERY NEW and an EARLY STAGE growth company. This in turn means the company is still very small and the shares are highly illiquid at the moment. Be advised that this is a very risky company and not for the faint of heart. That being said they are also growing extremely fast which I will touch on a bit later. They just went public a little less then a year ago under the new Reg A+ (I think that is what it was called) guidelines allowing smaller companies to go public with less regulation.

Shiftpixy in it’s most basic form a simple staffing company. Though they are throwing in a unique twist on the staffing industry hoping to take advantage of the current environment. They are initially focused on full time and part time shifts within the restaurant and hospitality industries. ShiftPixy will make an agreement with a company allowing all employees to transfer employment to ShiftPixy. They still work their normal shifts with the restaurant they worked for prior but now ShiftPixy handles all the staffing details such as health insurance benefits, 401k retirement and any liability insurance needs. In turn ShiftPixy is paid by the company a premium for handling the employment details.

This arrangement benefits both the employees and employers. No longer do employers need to worry about meeting all the health insurance requirements now required under Obamacare. They also no longer need to worry about cutting back hours to keep a part time worker under the health insurance requirement threshold. We are also facing record levels of turnover among part time staff. This used to create a paperwork headache of onboarding new employees and letting old employees go. This is also now handled within ShiftPixy. The employee benefits because they get full access to all the benefits through ShiftPixy when these may not have been offered before. Also what if the restaurant they currently work at for some reason needs to cut an employees hours. Before they would have to either endure the limits of a smaller paycheck or get a second job. When working within the ShiftPixy environment they no longer need to do this. They can go on the ShiftPixy app and look for extra available shift work with another participating company without ever leaving employment with ShiftPixy. Yes that is right within the mobile app ShiftPixy is building if an employer needs to fill a one time shift they can post it on the app where a worker desiring an extra shift can pick up the one time shift. It is often compared to being Uber like for restaurant and hospitality shift work. The emerging gig economy among the millennial generation.

I mentioned they are still a very early stage company. They are still finishing the build out of their mobile app. They also only had a presence in Las Angeles (test market) when they first went public. Though within only this one market they were still able to bring in good revenue. They opened their second office in New York last August as their second market. Just recently they released press releases announcing the entering of the Texas market and Florida market by opening offices in both Austin, TX and Orlando, FL. They have a list of future cities they plan to expand to over the next few years.

Zach’s actually released a research article to the public last January that does a really good job at explaining the opportunity so I will also refer you to that article at the following link. Just click the “READ THE FULL RESEARCH REPORT HERE” link toward the bottom.

http://scr.zacks.com/News/Press-Releases/Press-Release-Detai…

Still not convinced? Lets get into some of the numbers.

Full Year 2017
Annual fiscal 2017 gross billings more than doubled to $126.4 million from $50.7 million for fiscal year 2016
Net revenue grew 139% to $20.2 million from $8.5 million in fiscal year 2016
Gross profit expanded 143% to $3.7 million in fiscal 2017 from $1.5 million in fiscal 2016
Worksite employees increased 47% to 5,074 from 3,463 in fiscal 2016

2018 First Quarter Guidance
Based on our preliminary development of financial statements for the first quarter ending, which statements have not been reviewed and are not required to be audited, the Company currently expects gross billings for fiscal first quarter 2018 to increase from fiscal fourth quarter 2017 by approximately 20% from $33.1 million to $40 million. This number may change as we continue development of our financial statements for the quarter.
(They guided to a ~20% quarter over quarter growth rate for Q1 2018)

https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

2018 First Quarter
Gross billings grew 14.7% to $40.2 million (over the previous year quarter), compared to $35.0 million for the 2017 first quarter; gross billings for the quarter increased, sequentially, 21.2% from $33.1 million in the prior quarter. (slightly beat their guidance of Q over Q 20% growth rate)
Revenues increased 14.6% to $6.5 million for the quarter, compared to $5.7 million for the first quarter of 2017.
Worksite employees increased by 719 to 5,682 compared to 4,963 as of November 30, 2016; the number of employees at the end of the quarter also represents a sequential increase of 608 over the number of employees at the end of the fourth quarter 2017.
Gross profit for the quarter was $1.2 million versus $2.0 million in the prior year period, and net loss per share was 12 cents during the quarter, versus a net profit of 1 cent the prior year period.

(this is where it gets interesting)
2018 Second Quarter Guidance
Based on our preliminary development of financial statements for the second quarter ending February 28, 2018, the Company currently expects gross billings for fiscal second quarter 2018 to be in the range of $60 million to $65 million, which at the midpoint would represent a sequential increase of 55.6% over the fiscal first quarter 2018. Our expectations may change as we continue development of our financial statements for the quarter.
(they are projecting a Quarter over Quarter ~55% growth rate which seems to be due to the addition of the new york market)

They just announced today at market close today they will release the Q2 numbers April 13th (this coming friday) so we will see how well their growth comes in.

This is still a very early stage company as I said before though I can see a company who may be setting themselves up for many years of very high growth rates going forward with the new staffing software.

Once again I encourage you to read the Zach’s report because it provides a lot of good information regarding the company.

Best,
Maraj

Long PIXY

[soth12]

Just a couple additional notes I forgot to include.

There is currently 28.7 million shares outstanding and approximately 87% is held my insiders. Most of which is held my the two founders. The CEO, Scott Absher, is also one of the original founders of the company holding 12.5 million shares according to yahoo finance. That means we have a disruptive founder led company with the founder still owning the majority of the shares. The total shares in float is only approximately 3.6 million shares (according to yahoo finance) so it can be a little on the illiquid side.

The balance sheet of the company is a bit on the weak side with approximately $2.6 million in cash and no debt as of the Q1 conference call. They were burning cash at a pretty fast rate spending money to develop all the features of the mobile app. They will likely need to do a debt raise or share offering soon. Though they did mention in the conference call they plan to be cash flow positive at the end of 2018.

[LifeOfDreamer]

Thanks for this. At first wasnt interested but the angle of the gig economy is actually very interesting.

While focused on certain markets now, it could easily expand to retail or tradeshow workers and elsewhere. But reataurant and hospitality are huge markets.

Will check it out!

[maraj]

While focused on certain markets now, it could easily expand to retail or tradeshow workers and elsewhere.

That is exactly what management is planning. If you listen to the conference calls you will hear management mention specifically they are starting with restaurant and hospitality. (trial markets) They are planning on moving into other areas as well. If I remember right they detailed ideas of new areas in the last earnings call. Anywhere that allows shift workers.

Within the last month they also did a lot of press releases detailing the software that are quite interesting.

March 7th - ShiftPixy’s Blockchain Use Case
ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), a disruptive workforce engagement platform provider, is leveraging blockchain as a digital ledger for all human capital transactions. Blockchain is being met with skepticism due to the lack of use cases.

ShiftPixy is a prime use case for implementing a private, centralized blockchain due to the security and privacy of the data that a blockchain affords. In business, human capital transactions contain some of the most crucial and sensitive personal information-namely, everything contained in the personnel records for an individual (including social security number, date of birth, driver’s license or passport details, bank account information, tax form elections, and more). Any data considered to be a human capital validation point or part of the hiring and onboarding process is being utilized and recorded in ShiftPixy’s blockchain ledger. The employee I-9 verification process, for example-one of the most stringent, rigorous, and penalty-laden compliance procedures-is positively impacted by blockchain utilization of biometric authentication and automatic verification of I-9 data, removing human error in the process of screening for fraudulent information. Scott Absher, President and CEO of ShiftPixy, stated, “We use blockchain technology in our ecosystem, because it is one of the most efficient tools available to help us protect our data from cyber interference. Any data considered to be a human capital validation point or part of the hiring and onboarding process is being utilized and recorded in ShiftPixy’s blockchain ledger.”
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 8th - ShiftPixy Announces Texas Expansion
IRVINE, Calif., March 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PIXY), a disruptive workforce engagement platform provider, today announced the opening of its Austin, Texas, location. In keeping with the Company’s growth plan and fast-growing client demand, ShiftPixy has decided to base its Texas market launch in Austin. “We think Austin is a perfect place for ShiftPixy to launch into Texas. The technical innovation ShiftPixy brings to the part-time labor driven industries like restaurant and retail operators has enjoyed a warm Texas welcome,” stated ShiftPixy’s CEO Scott Absher. Absher continued his comments, stating that “the thriving Austin tech community also allows us to build our technical bench, not just our national footprint. We are excited to put down our Texas roots in Austin.”
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 9th - ShiftPixy Unveils its Cutting-edge Fintech
ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), amidst all the talk about the fintech boom, is developing a unique financial and insurance transaction and metering platform.

ShiftPixy’s technology platform leverages a ‘micro-metering’ approach to incremental financial and payment transactions and related insurance coverages based on real-time use and exposures. In his discussion regarding ShiftPixy’s underlying technology in the midst of the fintech frenzy, ShiftPixy’s CEO Scott Absher stated, “We are preparing to operate at the level at which many fintech companies are endeavoring to attain. In connecting a workforce with business, ShiftPixy will be leveraging two critical technology functionalities. The first is what we call ‘micro metering’ of essential commercial insurance coverages required by our operator clients-namely workers’ compensation and auto coverages on a delivery-by-delivery basis. The second is using ShiftPixy’s blockchain ledger to process and record our critical P2P connections.”
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 13th - ShiftPixy Discusses the Gig Economy’s Impact on the Restaurant and Hospitality Trades
ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), a disruptive workforce engagement platform provider is designed to correct two areas that the gig economy has impacted restaurant and hospitality business operators.

The first of these impact areas is turnover. The new gig platforms have created new opportunities for income for workers committed to part time labor. Part time workers no longer need to hit the street to hunt for jobs and fill out applications. Now from their smart phone they are served real time local opportunities that allow them to work when they want and where they want. This new dimension to work and work opportunities access has carved deeply into the US part time labor market. Fewer part time workers are looking for restaurant and hospitality work has resulted in toxic levels of turn over particularly in major metro US markets.
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 14th - ShiftPixy Announces Expansion to Florida
IRVINE, Calif., March 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PIXY), a disruptive workforce engagement platform provider, today announced the opening of the Company’s Orlando, Florida location. ShiftPixy’s fast-growing client demand is quickly developing the Company’s national footprint. ShiftPixy’s CEO Scott Absher stated, “Orlando is the perfect jump off point for us for Florida. The restaurant and retail trades are robust, so our Orlando location allows us to serve locally both coasts with efficiency and ease.” ShiftPixy’s technical innovation for the part time labor driven industries such as restaurant and retail operators has been quickly embraced as a solution to high turnover. Mr. Absher further commented, “Orlando has been in the works for some time and we are glad to now be on the ground and in the market.”
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

(These next two press releases seem quite interesting to me. Could it be a viable alternative to Grubhub and other delivery sites?)
March 15th - ShiftPixy Delivers a Revolution to Fast Food and Fast Casual

ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), ShiftPixy is introducing a highly disruptive proposition for the Company’s fast food and fast casual restaurant operator clients. Scott Absher ShiftPixy’s Co-Founder and CEO stated that, “Delivery is the fastest growing wave in the fast food and fast casual dominated by GrubHub, UberEats, DoorDash. They have created a wave we are calling the convenience economy. We see that none of the large fast food and fast casual brands could have predicted the delivery demand wave, but they should not have been surprised by the damage to their brand and their customer experience from surrendering their completed customer connection to a stranger.” One ShiftPixy client in Southern California who uses third-party delivery providers explained that, “Happy customers say nothing, but angry customers tell everyone, we don’t find out until it’s too late that there was a problem and then we have lost a customer.”

ShiftPixy’s new driver management layer for operators in the ShiftPixy ecosystem will now allow ShiftPixy clients to use their own team members to self-deliver a brand intended customer experience. ShiftPixy has taken the compliance, management and insurance issues related to the support of a delivery option and created a turn key self-delivery opportunity. “This changes the game in a big way,” said Scott W. Absher, ShiftPixy’s Co-Founder and CEO. “We listened to the stories our operator clients told us and saw we could leverage our ecosystem and the way we served them to make it simple for our clients to take on the growth opportunity that self-delivery represents for their business.”
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 20th - ShiftPixy’s Self-delivery Allows QSR to Keep Their Profits
ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), ShiftPixy’s highly disruptive self-delivery proposition for QSR restaurant operators is a big opportunity in the rapidly expanding third-party delivery boom. Scott Absher, ShiftPixy’s Co-Founder and CEO, commented that “when we asked our QSR operator clients why they would surrender their brand, their customer experience and their customer data to a third party and give up their hard-earned revenue the stories tumbled out.” ShiftPixy’s cutting-edge technology and approach to human capital management allows the company a unique window into the daily demands of QSR operators and the ability to extend its technology and engagement to enable this unique self-delivery proposition.
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 22nd - ShiftPixy’s Platform Accelerating Client Performance
ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), a disruptive workforce engagement platform provider, is helping businesses streamline employment operations in sectors where high turnover is hampering growth. The gig economy’s mainstream adoption has caused much of the part-time labor force to leave the standard workplace in favor of gig platforms that provide the desired flexibility. By leveraging the gig economy concept and focusing on companies who rely on part-time labor, ShiftPixy’s ecosystem and mobile platform have created a solution that allows operators to retain a dedicated workforce while achieving desired growth and scalability.
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

March 27th - ShiftPixy Leverages IBM’s Watson to Better Connect and Scale
ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY), a disruptive workforce engagement platform provider, has leveraged the powerful Watson’s artificial intelligence engine across its platform to achieve an active and personal user experience. ShiftPixy’s current mobile gateway app uses Watson to power its entire employee enrollment process.

ShiftPixy CEO Scott Absher stated, “Our new employees no longer have to fill out the burdensome pile of required new employee paperwork. By leveraging Watson’s artificial intelligence capabilities, new hires are guided by a conversation with our chatbot ‘Pixy’ who asks the necessary questions and generates the required employment documents in a highly personal and engaging way.”
https://ir.shiftpixy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/…

[anthonyms]

Very interesting gig economy play. Thanks for sharing. Need to look closer at the bottom line and the race between turning Free cash flow positive and need to raise funds.
Ant

[LifeOfDreamer]

Maraj,
Some bad vibes via this article…just fyi:
ShiftPixy Is Just A Struggling Staffing Agency, It Has Very Few App Downloads, 50%+ Downside https://seekingalpha.com/article/4103579?source=ansh $PIXY

Another article on downside:
Most Regulation A+ IPOs Are Outright Uninvestable https://seekingalpha.com/article/4118473?source=ansh $ADOM, $CSSE, $FAT, $FUV, $PIXY

Truth may be somewhere in between but curious if you have seen these?

-Dreamer

[maraj]

Summary

ShiftPixy uses a social networking app to match employers with part-time “shift” employees.

ShiftPixy management talks a lot about the new app, but it’s dysfunctional, and has very few downloads after being released a month ago.

We believe ShiftPixy is nothing but a struggling staffing agency trying to look like it has a revolutionary “Uber-like” technology.

With very small net revenue and high expenses, we see 50%+ downside in the stock within a year, and likely an eventual delisting.

ShiftPixy’s CEO, Scott Absher, has a checkered past with some “bad” investments where the SEC had to step in.

We believe ShiftPixy (PIXY), is a struggling business and a good short sell idea. For the reasons explained in this article, we expect a 50%+ decline in PIXY within the next year from

I am not a pro member so I posted what was available of the article for reference as I respond and for others to see.

I remember when this article first came out and my reaction. I have followed shiftpixy since last summer. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone mainly because it was very early stage and all the pieces had yet to come together. I decided to post now because it seems like the company is just on the verge of coming into its own and making the turn of turning what the CEO talks about into a reality.

This article when I first read it also worried me as well. This article mentions in the second point there is a lot of talk of this app but yet little to no downloads. Well in September the app was not fully developed and was not functional. They had very few users because there was no reason to download it. The “Uber” like features were not even functional. Now going off the last call it sounds like the features are coming together in the app nicely. Keep in mind they are still developing the core functionality of the app as we speak. This is a very early stage that just went into business in 2015.

We believe ShiftPixy is nothing but a struggling staffing agency trying to look like it has a revolutionary “Uber-like” technology.

Yes this is true for now. As of the posting of this SA article they had no functioning “Uber-like” technology because it had not been built yet. Yes they are a new staffing agency just starting out. As of right now I can’t guarantee it but I do think they have just completed the main features of the app. I am exited to hear more on Friday as to the progress of the development. I think it is going a little far to say the company is a struggling staffing agency. It is a newly formed growth company just getting started. The company was just formed in 2015 with $0 in Revenue. It had $50.7 million in bookings and $8.5 million in revenues at the end of 2016. I would say that is not too bad at all given the company was at best 2 years old at this point. In 2017 they had $126.4 million in bookings and $20.2 million in revenues giving them a yoy rev. growth rate of 139%. I would say that is anything but a struggling staffing agency. I would say that is an early stage company that is really killing it in their first 3 years. Not to mention in Q4 to Q1 quarter they achieved a 20% growth rate and are projecting 55% growth from Q1 to Q2. That is anything but struggling if they can achieve the projections.

Regarding the CEO’s “checkered past”. I am still doing research as well but I haven’t found much to make me worry.

Quite frankly this SA article seems more like a short seller hit piece (which I am very familiar with these day) then it does a actual well researched article. Everyone is free to make up their own mind regarding these SA articles though given what I know from my research into the company these issues do not worry me too much.

Thanks for the responses Dreamer. Your posts are challenging me to think more in depth about the company and hopefully we will both become better investors.

Best,
Maraj

[SaulR80683]

Well I have some mixed comments.

First of all, the short article was dated Sept 1st and is now 7 months old. It said:

we expect a 50%+ decline in PIXY within the next year from its current price of around $4.00.

Second, they weren’t far off as the price did get down to $2.05 in November, and is currently $2.69.

Third, the principals do sound like shady characters, and I have not had good results in the past investing in tiny companies with shady principals.

Fourth, they talk about huge billings which sound impressive, but actual revenue is quite small.

Fifth, their App, which would set their employment agency apart, was rather laughable back then, but we know that anyway, and they may have made a lot of progress since then.

Sixth, another point which the shorts made, is that someone who worked in one restaurant, can’t just come in and work a shift in the kitchen of another restaurant, for instance, without any training in their menu, etc.

Seventh, their growth rate seems rather remarkable and what they are doing sounds like a good idea, but for myself, I think I’d rather wait a bit and see what happens.

Saul

[daveraj]

Sounds like an old fashion Pump and Dump to me.

Are they sending out convincing brochures to naive investors bragging about their partners?

[maraj]

Hey Saul,
I appreciate the commments.

Second, they weren’t far off as the price did get down to $2.05 in November, and is currently $2.69.

Yep, very true the author of the article was very accurate to the stock movement. This stock has been a punching bag of short sellers for quite a while. Given the low float and very small base nearly non existent base of long term investors it is fairly easily manipulated.

Third, the principals do sound like shady characters, and I have not had good results in the past investing in tiny companies with shady principals.
This is an area I still need to do more work in my research. I have heard questionable things though I am sure as time goes along we will see how well management sticks to what they say they will do. So far through my research on the company and listening to calls I have no reason not to trust them. In the short amount of time they have been public they have followed through on most everything they said in the calls and their projections have been quite accurate. They don’t seem over promotional to me on the calls. One thing that did seem a little strange though. The last earnings call they only answered pre-submitted questions. They didn’t answer any live questions. I am not quite sure why as they did live questions in the past.

Fourth, they talk about huge billings which sound impressive, but actual revenue is quite small.
This is also true though is not something that concerns me all that much. By design the nature of their business results in very high billings numbers where the revenue numbers are quite low. This is because billings include literally everything the company pays them employee salary, insurance/benefits reimbursements and shiftpixy service fees. They talked about how margins will likely go up as they get some higher margin clients and start offering more services. It is just a low margin business. Nothing to be concerned with as long as the growth rates are also showing up in the revenue numbers which so far seems to be the case. Just be sure to value on revenue numbers and not bookings numbers. They are currently trading close to 4x 2017 revenue and 2018 is on track to come in meaningfully higher.

Fifth, their App, which would set their employment agency apart, was rather laughable back then, but we know that anyway, and they may have made a lot of progress since then.

Yes, the app is still being developed. The early version referenced in the SA article was quite pathetic. I think I remember them mentioning getting it put on apple store as a test of concept sort of thing then slowly add functionality over time. It will take a while to get it fully functional and some time to build a user base. My guess is once they have the app functioning as they want it they will start promoting it to their base of current customers. I will be curious to hear what progress has been made when they report earnings this week.

Sixth, another point which the shorts made, is that someone who worked in one restaurant, can’t just come in and work a shift in the kitchen of another restaurant, for instance, without any training in their menu, etc.

This is very true and something I have grappled with in my mind for a while as well. I don’t think the services are meant for everyone. I think the shift selection is more for like for like jobs that does not require a lot of location specific knowledge. A wait staff job may be a good fit as well as a room cleaning jobs in a hotel. Not all jobs will be a good fit. As you mentioned a chef position would not be a good candidate because there is a lot of location specific knowledge.

Seventh, their growth rate seems rather remarkable and what they are doing sounds like a good idea, but for myself, I think I’d rather wait a bit and see what happens.

I completely understand and is probably the best approach for most people. It is a interesting company and concept though is still very early days with a lot of questions that will likely be answered with time. The growth rate is good though I do find myself wondering how long it can be maintained and if clients can be maintained over time.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Best,
Maraj

[SaulR80683]

Third, the principals do sound like shady characters, and I have not had good results in the past investing in tiny companies with shady principals.

This is an area I still need to do more work in my research. I have heard questionable things though I am sure as time goes along we will see how well management sticks to what they say they will do. So far through my research on the company and listening to calls I have no reason not to trust them.

Maraj, This is a very important issue and you are blinding yourself on this issue.

Both founders have had difficulty with the law. The co-founder was sentenced to 15 months in jail, “for acts related to making false statements in relation to two quarterly IRS Form 941 Employer Federal Quarterly tax returns, one in 1996 and the second 1997, for a company for which he was an officer at the time.”

The ceo was issued a cease and desist in Alabama as recently as 2013. “Mr. Absher and others caused the offer or sale of unregistered securities through unregistered agents.” On June 25, 2013, the Alabama Securities Commission issued a Cease and Desist Order against Scott Absher, and other “Respondents” from further offers or sales of any security in the state of Alabama.

And Maraj, you say: …I have no reason not to trust them

Saul

[RaptorD2]

Hi Maraj,

Thanks for the heads-up.

The idea is very creative IMO.

You should be aware that Zachs is paid for just this type of ‘endorsement.’ That’s their bread and
butter. Beyond that …

Assuming these aren’t outright crooks,
Assuming they get their app together,
Assuming the old bean counter didn’t leave due to burns from cooking books,

then my concern is scalability. There is no way to hire people without an office and paper pushers in
the same city as the client businesses. (Papers must be signed. W-2’s must be filed, etc., etc., etc.)
None of these requirements would mean that it can’t be done, but it would take incredible focus and
either micro-management of all those new office employees, or low-level managers that were beyond
reproach regarding honesty (right or wrong, until further clarification I consider this close to an all-
cash business) and people skills.

It seems to me that each target city would be almost identical to opening up an entirely new business
each and every time and getting out the kinks could take months.

None of this sounds much like Uber to me. On top of this I would expect the IRS to be on them like a
bear on honey. I’ll leave a note to for myself, to check in on them occasionally. I hope it works out
for you.

Sometimes I think I’m pretty brave. Then I remember all the hard work I had to do to earn the money I’m
investing and then I realize that my targets, while certainly not "sure thing"s, have enough history for
me to follow and for the most part, I feel I can trust their bookkeeping. I don’t feel that sense of
trust here. It could be my loss but I can afford to lose out on opportunity easier than losing my money.

I hope you keep us updated. Good luck.

Dan

[maraj]

Maraj, This is a very important issue and you are blinding yourself on this issue.

Blinding myself? Seriously? Could you please post something a bit more constructive?

[cleverbear1]

“Blinding myself? Seriously? Could you please post something a bit more constructive?”

Hi Maraj,

A couple of years ago I brought a new company to the board that I thought was a good investment opportunity. Saul didn’t share my enthusiasm and didn’t mince words in saying so. I felt quite foolish for making the suggestion once the discussion ended. However, I heeded his advice and sold my shares. I’ve learned a lot about investing since then. For example, I take the opinions of the experienced people on this board very seriously. Saul is expressing his concern that you may not be seeing things in this company that suggest it’s not a good investment. He does so out of kindness and not for any other reason. Other posters have expressed similar concerns. I would weigh what they are saying very carefully if I were you.

The company that I brought to the board several years ago is now bankrupt by the way.

[maraj]

I have no problem with the fact that he or anyone else might disagree. This is very healthy and can be very constructive. When someone resorts to name calling that is a very different story.

If you want to make a constructive counter argument then present it. So far no one has posted any links short of a seeking alpha article that required a pro membership.

Since posting regarding ShiftPixy I realized maybe I didn’t dig as much as I should have on management. This is something I took away from this thread. I am doing more research as we speak. I so far am struggling to find much for detailed documents explaining the issues in managements past. So far most are vague and lead to more questions then answers. Remember there are two sides to every story.

If you or anyone has reputable sources please post them.

Regarding past experience and listening to others. I have been investing for years and taught myself to fish using several different investing styles including options. I taught myself through years of reading the best books on the market and participating in the markets. I get very good returns for myself with near zero overlap among stocks on this board the last couple years. ShiftPixy is probably the riskiest company I follow and realize the risk involved. If it goes to zero I will be fine and will learn from the experience. I will happily listen and learn from others when they make constructive arguments worth considering. I will not listen to arguments based solely on seeking alpha hack jobs. Yes sometimes seeking alpha articles can present good arguments but that is just a basis from which more research is warranted.

I took a long break from this board because I was very turned off by the talk regarding BOFI years ago. It felt like one big echo chamber where no arguments would be heard that did not agree with a select few. These select few also refused to respond to constructive questions only referring back to the seeking alpha articles the entire argument was based upon. I also suggested adding BOFI to their caps accounts as a thumbs down if they felt so negative toward the company. At least be accountable for their performance both good and bad. I just got attacked… how dare I ever make such a suggestion. I bought all the way down because my views on management were different and still are different.

[LifeOfDreamer]

There was no fee on my part to view the seeking alpha articles I posted. I pay no subscription fees. I did create an account for free and downloaded their app on an android phone.

[XMFALieberman]

This is an interesting play, but an industry I’m afraid of. TrueBlue Inc is struggling massively in this arena.

http://investor.trueblue.com/investors/default.aspx

[maraj]

There was no fee on my part to view the seeking alpha articles I posted. I pay no subscription fees. I did create an account for free and downloaded their app on an android phone.

Thank you for posting the article Dreamer.
I am accessing it from a desktop where I do the majority of my work. I think access is a bit different on a desktop browser vs the mobile app. I just checked on my phone to confirm and yes I can access the article on the SA app. It seems browser access or maybe just desktop browser access has a bit more restrictions? Maybe a bug in the mobile app? I am not sure though it does seem we can get access to it through the mobile app. I will read the article again in full as time allows.

Best,
Maraj

[maraj]

This is an interesting play, but an industry I’m afraid of. TrueBlue Inc is struggling massively in this arena.

Hey Aleeb,

I took a really quick 5 minute ish look at the company. It seems to also be in the staffing industry. They have decent cashflows though free cashflow was only about $70 millionish for a $1 billion company. I typically look for a minimum free cashflow yield of at least 10% for a non growing company. Revenues have also been stable to down in the recent year. Balance sheet doesn’t look too bad. Overall a stable looking company (as much as can be determined in a 5 minute look at least) though seems a bit on the pricey side for a company with stable to declining revenues.
Do you know of a specific catalyst that you feel could accelerate revenue growth in the future for this company?

Best,
Maraj

[XMFALieberman]

Maraj,

No. I do not know of a catalyst. My point was that the industry seems tough and I’m staying away from both.

Better places for my money IMO.