Posted on November 9th, 2016. Posted by Chris Brinzey
Some people are a little surprised to hear that a decent percentage of our clients at Westwicke are private, venture-backed healthcare companies. “Why,” they ask, “do private companies need investor relations?”
Having spent the majority of my professional career on the buy side at one of the first U.S.-based healthcare crossover firms, I typically respond by saying: “I often wonder why it takes private companies so long before they do reach out to the buy side!”
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Posted on November 2nd, 2016. Posted by ICR Westwicke
As part of our Investor Relations Luncheon Series, we recently hosted a select group of biotechnology executives for a discussion with David Nierengarten and Heather Behanna, biotech analysts with Wedbush. The theme of the lunch was “How Best to Engage with Research Analysts.”
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Posted on October 25th, 2016. Posted by John Woolford, MBA
I’ve seen pretty much everything during my career on Wall Street regarding investor relations. But there’s one thing I’ve never seen, and neither has anyone I know – a company that hasn’t run into unforeseen challenges, delays, or just bad news. Even the best-run companies have hiccups from time to time, whether it’s a missed quarter, bad clinical results, unexpected costs, or something else.
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Posted on October 19th, 2016. Posted by ICR Westwicke
As an executive, you understand the importance of formulating a long term capital sourcing strategy that will provide you the cash necessary to support your company’s growth. You are constantly asked in investor meetings: “How much cash do you have on the balance sheet?” “How long will that last you?” So how do you prepare to ensure that your business remains well capitalized?
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Posted on October 12th, 2016. Posted by Mark Klausner
“The analysts are projecting your revenue for next year” — a year in which you have not provided guidance — “at $50 million. Are you comfortable with this projection?”
Most CEOs and CFOs of public companies have heard a question like that — a “trick” question for which it seems any answer you give can potentially cause you problems. If you say you’re not “comfortable” with that revenue number, for example, do you risk projecting weakness to the investor community? On the other hand, do you want to effectively provide guidance before you formally release it?
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Posted on September 21st, 2016. Posted by Caroline Corner
We’ve met with plenty of companies over the years that are unsatisfied with the service they’re getting from their existing investor relations advisor (and some of them are happy clients of ours today). In many cases, they really weren’t getting great service. But all great relationships are two-way streets. So to ensure that you have the best possible relationship with your partner, keep these do’s and don’ts in mind.
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Posted on September 14th, 2016. Posted by ICR Westwicke
With the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference quickly approaching (again), it is now time to start your planning for one of the most important healthcare events of the year. It is not too early to secure your meeting and sleeping space, refresh your messaging for your meetings with investors, analysts, bankers and strategists, and start the outreach to lock in your schedule with the folks you want to spend time with. As you well know, most people involved with healthcare will attend this event and being more organized than the next guy may be the reason you achieve your strategic goals for attending this important event. The J.P. Morgan event is so important, in fact, that I asked our team for their best advice in preparing for the show.
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Posted on September 7th, 2016. Posted by Asher Dewhurst
We’re often asked by clients and others for ideas on how to liven up their earnings calls. And that’s understandable. Nobody loves earnings calls. They’re tedious, repetitive, and (if things in your business are going as they should) they offer few surprises.
So the desire to make your earnings calls more compelling is certainly reasonable. Still, we always recommend that companies think carefully before they change any aspect of their usual call process just for the sake of change.
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Posted on August 17th, 2016. Posted by ICR Westwicke
Your investor presentation is one of the first things that investors and analysts look for (along with SEC filings) when trying to get up to speed on your company. It’s often the first chance to tell your story in a crafted manner.
In other words, it’s crucial.
An effective deck contains a clear communication of management’s vision, the company’s market opportunity, its competitive advantages, and its growth strategy.
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Posted on August 10th, 2016. Posted by Patti Bank
While the window for IPOs has been closed for most of this year, there have been signs of hope recently, with several transactions being priced. However, some bankers we speak to think it may not be until early 2017 that the overall market for life sciences companies really comes back.
Although disappointing for management teams that are trying to responsibly conserve their cash until better days, we think the wait could actually be a good thing for many companies. The extra time allows you to better polish your story and message, and build critical new relationships with potential investors. We think the remainder of 2016 is a pivotal time to be busily prepping ahead of a potential upturn in the market.
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