Spruce Point releases Perion Network short report, questions financial reporting accuracy

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Perion shares are currently down over 2% at $31 per share. However, the stock fell as low as $29.62 earlier in the session following the release of the report.

Spruce Point’s report outlines several red flags it sees regarding Perion’s business, such as “how it generates $1.50m and $0.30m of revenue and EBITDA per employee in the advertising technology industry.”

They state the peer average is $0.53 million and $0.07M, respectively, and its performance “puts it on par with technology leaders Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.”

In addition, the short-selling firm says Perion “miraculously generated $233m of cumulative cash flow” since 2020, with “just $2.2m of total capital expenditures, $3.6m of PP&E, and technology and development expense 3x below industry average.”

Finally, Spruce Point questioned why Perion has “raised $231m of equity with no clear purpose.” The firm concluded that they see a potential 25% to 40% downside in Perion’s shares.