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Digital Realty Trust (DLR) Terminates Chief Revenue Officer – C-Suite Transitions

  • June 8, 2023

This appears to be REIT week at InsideArbitrage. Yesterday we wrote about a buyback at a medical office building REIT Healthcare Realty Trust (HR) that we felt optimistic about and today we are going to discuss a data center REIT that saw a sudden departure of its Chief Revenue Officer after it cut its full-year revenue guidance.

Welcome to edition 44 of C-Suite Transitions, a weekly series on InsideArbitrage that tracks appointments and departures at publicly traded companies during the prior week. We highlight five appointments and departures each week by picking the largest companies from the full list of management changes.

Sudden Departures

  1. GOCO: On June 6, 2023, GoHealth announced Chief Strategy Officer Shane Cruz resigns effective June 30, 2023.
  2. SLGC: On June 6, 2023, SomaLogic announced Chief Financial Officer Shaun Blakeman resigns effective June 5, 2023.
  3. DRCT: On June 5, 2023, Direct Digital announced that Susan Echard Chief Financial Officer, resigns effective immediately.
  4. DLR: On June 5, 2023, Digital Realty announced the termination of Corey Dyer as Chief Revenue Officer of the company without cause, effective June 30, 2023.
  5. PHUN: On June 2, 2023, Phunware announced that Matt Aune Chief Financial Officer resigns effective as of June 2, 2023.
  6. LDI: On June 2, 2023, loanDepot announced that Patrick Flanagan Chief Financial Officer resigns effective June 26, 2023.
  7. HTGM: On June 1, 2023, HTG Molecular Diagnostics notified Byron T. Lawson Chief Commercial Officer of his termination of employment, effective June 2, 2023.
  8. SRT: On May 30, 2023, Nishit Shah informed Startek of his intention to resign as Chief Financial Officer effective as of June 2, 2023.
  9. CYT: On May 30, 2023, Cyteir Therapeutics announced Adam Veness resigned from his position as General Counsel effective June 14, 2023.
  10. CMPS: On May 30, 2023, COMPASS Pathways and its co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Ekaterina Malievskaia, mutually agreed that Dr. Malievskaia will step down from her executive role effective June 16, 2023, without the need for notice or payment in lieu of notice.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) Terminates Chief Revenue Officer Corey Dyer

Founded in 2004, Digital Realty Trust, a data center real estate investment trust (REIT), offers colocation and interconnection services. It has over 310+ data centers across 25+ countries. Its most notable clients include Meta, Verizon, IBM, AT&T, JPMorgan, LinkedIn, Oracle, and Comcast. Digital Realty also rents out full data center shells to other operators in addition to providing corporations with space in its facilities to house their networking and storage equipment.

Data Center REITs have evolved substantially, moving from on-premises infrastructure to cloud-based solutions and now adopting the agility and adaptability of hybrid models. This path is a reflection of the expanding expectations of companies in the digital age and the requirement for data center REITs to adjust to shifting market dynamics.

Corey Dyer

Corey DyerOn June 5, 2023, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) announced the termination of Corey Dyer as Chief Revenue Officer of the company without cause, effective June 30, 2023.

In connection with the termination of Mr. Dyer’s employment, the company anticipates that he will be eligible to receive a cash separation payment of approximately $1.3 million as well as various other separation payments and benefits, in accordance with the non-cause termination provisions.

Corey Dyer was appointed as Chief Revenue Officer in 2021. He previously worked for Equinix as Senior Vice President of Sales for the Americas before joining Digital Realty. Before working at Equinix, Corey served Hewlett-Packard, where he oversaw the company’s Canadian storage division as Vice President of storage sales, in Canada.

CRO insider sells

Despite a 22% decline in the stock over the last year, we have only seen insider sales, except a single purchase by the CEO last September. Mr. Dyer sold 6,367 shares of DLR worth $663,378 at an average price of $104.19 earlier this year.

Colin McLean

On June 5, 2023, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) announced the appointment of Colin McLean as Chief Revenue Officer. Mr. McLean is responsible for managing the worldwide sales and marketing organization for Digital Realty and will report to Andy Power, the company’s president, and CEO. McLean joined the Digital Realty group in 2017 and most recently served as the Americas region’s sales leader. McLean worked at Siemens, Unify, and Atos before joining DLR.

Balance Sheet, Debt Maturities, and Capital Raised

When it comes to REITs these days, the big question on investor’s minds is the amount of debt the company has and more specifically when that debt come due. Even if nothing changes with the business, the need to refinance debt at higher rates could translate into lower funds from operations (FFO) and a subsequent cut in the dividend. REITs do have several options at their disposal to avoid refinancing debt at higher rates including raising capital through stock sales and disposal of assets. Digital Realty has used both these options recently.

As of March 31, 2023, Digital Realty has approximately $17.9 billion in total debt outstanding, comprised of $17.3 billion in unsecured debt and approximately $0.6 billion in secured debt and others. At the end of the first quarter of 2023, the net debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA ratio stood at 7.1x.

DLR Investor-Presentation-June-2023-Balance Sheet

In a statement, Digital Realty stated that the sale of roughly 11 million shares issued under the company’s at-the-market (“ATM”) program, including 3.5 million shares to be issued in accordance with forward sales agreements, generated about $1.1 billion in gross proceeds.  Digital Realty also disclosed the sale of a Texas non-core data center. The company said that after selling its entire ownership stake in the data center, it received proceeds totaling about $150 million. According to the company, the combined proceeds from the asset sale and ATM issuance would be used to pay down debt and finance current and upcoming investment activities.

The weighted average debt maturity is at five years, and the weighted average coupon is very low at 2.8%. Approximately 82% of the debt is non-U.S. dollar-denominated. Over 80% of net debt is fixed rate and 97% of their debt is unsecured, providing flexibility for capital recycling.

Debt Maturity

Dividend Yield:

DLR has a forward annual dividend of $4.88 per share, working out to a yield of 4.63% with a payout ratio of 73% of funds from operations. 

Q1 2023 Results: (Investor Presentation)

  • Revenue of $1.3 billion, an increase of 9% over the prior quarter and 18.75% year-over-year.
  • Funds From Operations (FFO) of $485 million, or $1.60 per share, compared to $1.45 per share in the previous quarter and  $1.60 in Q1 2022.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $668 million, a 5% increase from the previous quarter.
  • Digital Realty maintained its 2023 Core FFO per share and constant-currency Core FFO per share outlook of $6.65 – $6.75 but cut its full-year revenue guidance.

In Q1 2023 earnings call, CEO Andy Power stated:

“The bigger picture around AI is that this is an incremental major wave of long-term demand that will certainly need to have proximity to the major data that sits today. The first two waves of demand of moving from on-prem locations to hybrid locations and the second wave of multi-cloud haven’t even hit the shore yet while this next wave of demand, it is falling behind it.”

CTO Chris Sharp said:

“The existing cloud infrastructure we have today, AI is cloud adjacent because of a lot of the applications, it’s empowering, and the way the customers are bringing it to market it’s something we’ve been watching for many, many years. I think one of the pieces I always try to emphasize is that a lot of the R&D from the hyperscalers and from the technological providers has been happening within digital, which has allowed us to evolve our infrastructure with this demand.  I would reiterate also that there are pockets of AI that we’re able to support rather efficiently.”

Investor Presentation (Click to enlarge)

Conclusion:

While it is encouraging to see that AI is going to benefit yet another company, management’s optimism was not reflected in the full year revenue guidance cut. Given their near-term debt maturities and leveraged balanced sheet, FFO is likely to remain flat as it has been for several quarters or even decline in the next couple of years. The risk continues to remain on the downside for Digital Realty.

Appointments

1.  Chemours Company (CC): $34.16

On May 31, 2023, The Chemours Company announced Jonathan Lock Chief Development Officer is appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective June 6, 2023.

MarketCap: $5.18BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 1,495,284Revenue (TTM): $6.57B
Net Income Margin (TTM): 7.45%ROE (TTM): 40.84%Net Debt: $3.05B
P/E: 11.02Forward P/E: 9.31EV/EBIDTA (TTM): 8.31
P/S (TTM): 0.83P/B (TTM): 4.2252 Week Range: $23.03 – $43.07

2.  Wolverine World Wide (WWW): $15.74

On May 31, 2023, Wolverine World Wide announced that the Board of Directors appointed Christopher E. Hufnagel as President, effective as of June 4, 2023.

MarketCap: $1.15BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 993,255Revenue (TTM): $2.67B
Net Income Margin (TTM): -6.71%ROE (TTM): -37.40%Net Debt: $1.36B
P/E: -6.33Forward P/E: 9.62EV/EBIDTA (TTM): 17.71
P/S (TTM): 0.43P/B (TTM): 3.5152 Week Range: $9.45 – $23.55

3.  Keysight Technologies (KEYS): $161.47

On May 30, 2023, Keysight Technologies announced the appointment of Lisa Poole as Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller, effective August 1, 2023.

MarketCap: $28.80BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 1,231,091Revenue (TTM): $5.59B
Net Income Margin (TTM): 21.11%ROE (TTM): 27.82%Net Debt: N/A
P/E: 24.62Forward P/E: 19.76EV/EBIDTA (TTM): 17.06
P/S (TTM): 5.20P/B (TTM): 6.1252 Week Range: $130.07 – $189.45

4. Nevro (NVRO): $23.12

On June 5, 2023, Nevro announced that Greg Siller has been appointed as Chief Commercial Officer of the company, effective June 19, 2023.

MarketCap: $840.99MAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 518,249Revenue (TTM): $414.85M
Net Income Margin (TTM): 0.55%ROE (TTM): 0.85%Net Debt: $140.33M
P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AEV/EBIDTA (TTM): -7.29
P/S (TTM): 2.02P/B (TTM): 2.7952 Week Range: $22.12 – $53.34

5. Hillman Solutions (HLMN): $8.92

On June 6, 2023, Hillman Solutions announced that the Board promoted Jon Michael Adinolfi to Chief Operating Officer.

MarketCap: $1.67BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 1,964,653Revenue (TTM): $1.47B
Net Income Margin (TTM): -1.61%ROE (TTM): -2.05%Net Debt: $957.29M
P/E: -70.51Forward P/E: N/AEV/EBIDTA (TTM): 13.80
P/S (TTM): 1.13P/B (TTM): 1.4652 Week Range: $6.60 – $12.14

Departures

1. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): $103.62

On June 5, 2023, the company announced the termination of Corey Dyer as Chief Revenue Officer of the company without cause, effective June 30, 2023.

MarketCap: $31.37BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 3,324,267Revenue (TTM): $4.84B
Net Income Margin (TTM): 7.70%ROE (TTM): 1.99%Net Debt: $16.51B
P/E: 96.46Forward P/E: 113.64EV/EBIDTA (TTM): 23.34
P/S (TTM): 6.50P/B (TTM): 1.8652 Week Range: $83.84 – $134.65

2. loanDepot (LDI): $2.13

On June 2, 2023, loanDepot announced that Patrick Flanagan Chief Financial Officer, will cease to serve in that role effective June 26, 2023

MarketCap: $664.40MAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 348,362Revenue (TTM): $866.47M
Net Income Margin (TTM): -32.45%ROE (TTM): -51.93%Net Debt: $3.49B
P/E: -1.22Forward P/E: N/AEV/EBIDTA (TTM): N/A
P/S (TTM): N/AP/B (TTM): N/A52 Week Range: $0.60 – $3.02

3. Wolverine World Wide (WWW): $15.74

On May 31, 2023, Wolverine World Wide announced that Brendan L. Hoffman steps down as President, and will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer.

MarketCap: $1.15BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 993,255Revenue (TTM): $2.67B
Net Income Margin (TTM): -6.71%ROE (TTM): -37.40%Net Debt: $1.36B
P/E: -6.33Forward P/E: 9.62EV/EBIDTA (TTM): 17.71
P/S (TTM): 0.43P/B (TTM): 3.5152 Week Range: $9.45 – $23.55

4. Solid Power (SLDP): $2.45

On May 31, 2023, Solid Power announced that David Jansen President and Interim CEO to step down effective June 14, 2023.

MarketCap: $423.23MAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 2,409,940Revenue (TTM): $13.39M
Net Income Margin (TTM): -137.24%ROE (TTM): -3.37%Net Cash: $245.58M
P/E: -22.74Forward P/E: N/AEV/EBIDTA (TTM): -2.85
P/S (TTM): 31.21P/B (TTM): 0.7852 Week Range: $1.83 – $7.77

5. Primo Water Corporation (PRMW): $13.23

On May 31, 2023, Primo Water Corporation announced that Thomas J. Harrington, Chief Executive Officer of the company, informed the Board that he intends to retire as  CEO, effective December 31, 2023.

MarketCap: $2.12BAvg. Daily Volume (30 days): 960,805Revenue (TTM): $2.24B
Net Income Margin (TTM): 1.88%ROE (TTM): 3.29%Net Debt: $1.66B
P/E: 51.27Forward P/E: 17.76EV/EBIDTA (TTM): 9.77
P/S (TTM): 0.96P/B (TTM): 1.6952 Week Range: $11.90 – $16.28

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