Par Technology Corp Q2 FY2020 Earnings Call

Thank you all for being here today, and welcome to Par Technology's financial results for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2020. I would now like to hand the call over to Chris Byrnes, Vice President of Business Development. Please proceed.

Thank you, Carmen, and good morning. I'd also like to welcome you all today to the call for PAR's 2020 second quarter financial results review. The complete disclosure of our results can be found in our press release issued this morning, as well as in our related Form 8-K furnished to the SEC. To access the press release and the financial results details, please see the Investor Relations and News section of our website at www.partech.com. At this time, I'd like to take care of certain details in regards to the call today. Participants on the call should be aware that we're recording the call this afternoon, and it will be available for playback. Also, we are broadcasting the conference call via the worldwide web, so please be advised if you ask a question, it will be included in both our live conference and any future use of recording. I'd also like to remind participants that this conference call includes forward-looking statements that reflect management's expectations based on currently available data. However, actual results are subject to future events and uncertainties. The information on this conference call related to projections or other forward-looking statements may be relied upon and subject to the safe harbor statement included in the earnings release this afternoon and in our annual and quarterly filings with the SEC. Joining me on the call this morning is PAR's CEO and President, Savneet Singh; and Bryan Menar, PAR's Chief Financial Officer. I'd now like to turn the call over to Savneet for the formal remarks portion of the call, which will be followed by general Q&A. Savneet?

Thank you, Chris, and good morning everyone on the call today. I hope you and your families are well and safe. The last several months have presented incredible challenges to the world and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by the global pandemic. I'd especially like to thank our essential workers at PAR for their responsiveness and flexibility as they have continued to show up to serve our customers. Our ability to keep our operations team continuously running in the challenging environment is a significant accomplishment. It clearly demonstrates the power of our core values. To begin, I want to let you know I'm very optimistic about the future of PAR. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact, not only on our company, but on the restaurant industry as a whole. Fortunately, and by design, PAR Technology was in a strong market position to continue to provide value for our customers. Even in the most difficult of times this past quarter, we were able to book 814 new Brink customers, along with 209 new Restaurant Magic customers in the quarter and repeated favorable performance as second quarter last year, an amazing accomplishment. Due to our focus within QSRs and Fast Casual restaurant, we witnessed that our customers were part of the restaurant segment that was able to maintain operations and take market share during this challenging time. These restaurants were well equipped with modern technology to quickly adjust their operations to curbside pickup, drive-thru, online ordering, and delivery. Before diving into the results today, I wanted to step back and touch on three very important overarching aspects of our business. First, the Brink business is incredibly resilient. While it's absolutely true that the restaurant business has a high failure rate, Brink's focus on the enterprise customer is unique. This statistic is most evidenced by the fact that at the end of July, only 6% of Brink stores were closed due to COVID-19. Historically, our business has been a single-digit annual churn business and as we emerge out of COVID-19, I expect us to continue to improve that metric. Second, during our previous calls, I relayed to you the dynamic shifts underway in the restaurant industry from older on-premise server-based technology to cloud-based solutions. As with other industries, we believe that once a cloud transformation takes hold, the wave does not stop. The last four months has dramatically accentuated this point. As restaurants dealt with the reality of diminished traffic, they had to quickly adopt to emerging digital trends to survive. Those restaurants that were agile and made the proper technology investments were able to quickly shift their business models to thrive. While the pandemic will not last forever, it's our belief that years of demand have been pulled forward for digital products. Pandemic or not, there is not a restaurant in the country that can survive without the enablement of a digital presence today. This presence will likely include strong integrations with third-party delivery, native online ordering, mobile application access, smart routing, curbside pickup, and much more. Third, our total addressable market (TAM) is large, and Brink has yet to penetrate the vast majority of it. It's estimated that there are 700,000 to 1 million restaurants in the United States that use point-of-sale products. Of that market, we estimate half of those units are addressable to PAR. Historically, we have been a single product company averaging $2,100 per store. That alone is a multibillion-dollar addressable market. But as we talked about, we're expanding our average revenue per user (ARPU) to the launch of new products, acquisitions of new categories, and the payments business. While much of our resources over the last few quarters have been squarely focused on Brink development, in the coming quarters we'll begin to ramp up our upsell engine. While we have not upsold significantly today, we are seeing a deep desire from our customer base to rationalize vendors. Restaurant businesses are looking for their point-of-sale players to take on more responsibility, not less. It's our estimate that the average enterprise restaurant spends $10,000 a year on recurring software products, and that amount continues to grow. Brink has only penetrated the very tip of that spend. As the Brink foundation solidifies, we believe we'll be able to continue to make additional features more available through our platform and solve many of the challenges our customers face today. This will lead to continued strong customer retention and the beginning of what we believe can be industry-leading net dollar retention. Before I hand the call over to Bryan, I want to spend one minute defining our metrics. We report revenue in three buckets: product, contract, and service. Product is our traditional hardware business. This encompasses point-of-sale terminals, drive-thru products, and peripherals. Contract is 100% of our Government services revenue. Service is a combination of recurring SaaS offerings, along with our traditional recurring service contracts associated with hardware sales and inflation services. Further, we disclosed metrics we think are useful for investors to track our performance. First, ARR is a measure of our annualized recurring revenue at the end of the quarter. This is 100% Brink and Restaurant Magic related. Second, bookings. Bookings are signed purchase orders. We take a very conservative view on bookings, and a store is put into bookings only when we receive a signed committed order. I believe this is the most important leading indicator of our business. Open order backlog. Simply put, this metric is the number of restaurants where we have a signed order that we have yet to install. Lastly, churn. Churn is the dollar value of recurring revenue lost in the quarter, usually annualized. As we continue to grow our business, we'll continue to provide additional breakouts of new metrics to help you gauge our performance. I will now turn the call over to Bryan to review our Q2 financial performance.

Thank you, Savneet, and good morning, everyone. I would now like to take this opportunity to provide some additional details surrounding our second quarter results. We reported revenues of $45.7 million for the quarter, up 3% from $44.2 million reported for Q2 2019. Our net loss was $9 million or $0.49 loss per share for the quarter, versus a net loss of $1.1 million or $0.07 loss per share for Q2 2019. Unfavorable year-over-year results from operations were primarily driven by a tax benefit recorded in 2019 of $4.1 million related to the sale of the 2024 Notes. Other additional unfavorable performance was driven by increased R&D spending in Brink and Restaurant Magic, increased interest expense, and increased amortization related to the Restaurant Magic acquisition and Drive-Thru acquisition. Operating segment revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2020, were $27.6 million for the Restaurant/Retail segment, a decrease of 2% from $28.3 million reported for Q2 2019, and $18.1 million for the Government, an increase of 13% from $16 million reported for Q2 2019. Restaurant/Retail revenue for Q2 2020 by business line consisted of $15.4 million for Core, which includes $4 million for Drive-Thru; $12.2 million for Brink, which included $1.8 million for Restaurant Magic. Restaurant/Retail revenue for Q2 2019 was $18 million for Core; $9.3 million for Brink, and $0.9 million for SureCheck. Government revenue for Q2 2020 by business line consisted of $9.7 million for ISR; $8.1 million for Mission Systems, and $0.2 million for product sales compared to Q2 2019 revenue of $7.3 million for ISR; $8.2 million for Mission Systems, and $0.5 million for product sales. Product revenue for the quarter was $12.3 million, down $2.4 million, or 16% compared to Q2 2019. Our hardware sales in the Restaurant/Retail reporting segment were down versus the prior year as a result of customers stalling their hardware refreshes and installations, as initial precautionary measures in response to COVID-19. Product revenue related to Brink for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 was $3.8 million, a decrease of 10% from the $4.2 million recorded for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. Drive-Thru product revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 was $3.5 million. Service revenue for the quarter was $15.3 million, up $1.8 million or 13% compared to Q2 2019. The increase was primarily due to the addition of the Restaurant Magic business and the growth in Brink recurring software revenues. Service revenue associated with Brink includes recurring software revenue of $5.4 million, an increase of 35% from $4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. Restaurant Magic service revenue includes recurring software revenue of $2.1 million. Contract revenue from our Government operating segment was $18.1 million, up to $2.1 million or 13% as compared to Q2 2019. A favorable increase was driven by contracts entered into during the first quarter of 2020 related to ISR. Contract backlogs totaled $130 million as of June 30, 2020 and trailing 12-month book-to-bill was 0.7x. In regards to GAAP margin performance for the quarter, product margin for the quarter was 19.1% compared to 22.5% in Q2 2019. The reduction in product margin was primarily due to unfavorable overhead absorption with reduced revenue and increased freight costs at the beginning of the quarter this year. Service margin for the quarter was 35.2% compared to 25.2% in Q2 2019. The improvement in service margin was primarily due to a shift in mix that resulted from our M&A activity with the Restaurant Magic acquisition, the Drive-Thru acquisition, and the divestment of SureCheck. Government contract margin for the quarter was 7.4% compared to 10% in Q2 2019. The decrease in margin was primarily due to lower product service business line revenue and increased investment in product services, compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2019. Now, to operating expenses. GAAP SG&A was $10 million, up $0.9 million versus Q2 2019. The increase was primarily driven by an additional $0.7 million of SG&A expense from recently acquired Restaurant Magic and Drive-Thru businesses. Non-GAAP SG&A was $8.6 million, up $0.2 million versus Q2 2019. Non-GAAP SG&A adjustments for Q2 2020 included $1.1 million for equity-based compensation and $0.1 million related to a China/Singapore matter. Research and Development expenses were $4.5 million, up $1.8 million versus Q2 2019, driven by increased investment in Brink development of $3.2 million and $0.5 million of Restaurant Magic development, partially offset by the SureCheck divestiture and an increase in capitalized software. Now let's provide information on the company's cash flow and balance sheet position for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Cash used in operations was $13.6 million, an improvement of $1.5 million compared to the three months ended March 31, 2020. The increase in cash was a result of the reduction in net working capital needs. Cash used in investing activities was $4.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 versus cash used of $3.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. During the six months ended June 30, 2020, we capitalized $4.6 million in costs associated with investments in our Restaurant/Retail segment software platforms compared to $1.6 million for the same period in 2019. There was no material non-software CapEx costs for the six months ended June 30, 2020, down $1.7 million versus 2019 due to a decrease in costs associated with IT infrastructure. Cash provided by financing activities from continuing operations was $49.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, versus $64.9 million for the same period in 2019. The six months ended June 30, 2020, included the $120 million issuance of the 2026 Notes, partially offset by the repurchase of a majority of the 2024 Notes. The six months ended June 30, 2019, included the $80 million issuance of the 2024 Notes. As of June 30, 2020, the inventory balance was $26 million, an increase of $6.7 million from December 31, 2019. Inventory turns were 3x for our domestic and international operations. Accounts receivable of $38.2 million decreased $3.5 million compared to December 31, 2019. The receivable balance was broken down between the Government segment of $8.6 million and the Restaurant/Retail segment of $29.6 million. I would now like to turn the call back over to Savneet.

Thanks, Bryan. Now to review our operating segment performance in the quarter. Just two quarters ago at the beginning of our fiscal year 2020, PAR had significant momentum. Our restaurant technology segment was accelerating new store bookings at historic highs and our growth accelerators, such as the investment in our software platform were poised to deliver our strongest growth rate in history. That all changed in mid-March as work-from-home was initiated, corporate business travel eliminated and our hospitality and restaurant industries were hit hard by quarantines and shelter in place policies. Even with all those headwinds, our restaurant solutions business went above and beyond for our customers and our market position. Evidenced by Brink recurring revenues growing by 35% over Q2 2019 and Restaurant Magic recurring revenues increasing by 15% in the same period, all achieved in the most challenging environment for restaurants in the industry's history. ARR for Brink was $21.4 million at the end of June and ARR for Restaurant Magic was $7.4 million. We expect ARR to continue to climb as new installations go live and COVID impacted stores reopen. As I commented earlier, it is worth repeating new bookings in the quarter totaled 814 sites, and our open order backlog now stands at 1,524 stores. We deployed 465 new restaurants in an extremely challenging environment and had an impressive non-COVID churn rate of 4.3%. At the end of June, even with COVID temporary churn, we had 10,280 Brink stores opened and using the solution to operate the restaurant. We saw great momentum at the end of June that spilled into July, and we are very pleased to see the business environment improve for our customers and the restaurant industry as a whole. We are confident the worst is behind us and our trajectory of new store openings should improve for the balance of 2020. New bookings for Restaurant Magic totaled 209 stores and activations totaled 180 in the quarter. After churn, our installed base stands at 5,064 stores at the end of Q2 for Restaurant Magic. Our core business is being most impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions and the overall downturn in the economic landscape. There have been disruptions as capital purchases are being postponed, and we are confident that these are not lost opportunities but being pushed into the second half of this year, depending on specific concepts and the timing of restrictions being reduced. As we communicated in our Q1 call, we aggressively pushed forward with cost reduction initiatives to strengthen an already strong liquidity position and balance sheet as seen by our cash generation in Q2. All of those actions were critically important as product revenues in the second quarter were down 16% year-over-year, better than we originally expected and down 34% sequentially as capital purchases, principally hardware, were delayed. At the beginning of Q2, we thought this impact would have been dramatically more severe, and we are proud of how we endured this difficult period. The lower product volumes may continue over the next couple of quarters, but we do expect conditions to improve sequentially and expect a full recovery in 2021. Now, to review our Government segment. Our Government business again delivered a solid quarter, evidenced by the 13% increase in revenues compared to Q2 2019. Our backlog at the end of Q2 was $130 million. Our Intel Solutions business was a driving force behind the growth in the quarter as ISR revenues increased 34.3% from last year's Q2. We continue to seek out contract opportunities where we can leverage our decade-long experience and performance excellence, specifically in value-added revenue contracts that include more direct labor and high-tech contract work within our Intel Solutions business line. Before we go to Q&A, I want to leave you with the following thoughts. We're pleased with our Q2 performance during a challenging period for the world. This isn't the first difficulty we faced as a company. Every time we go through a moment like this, it helps us to learn, evolve and merge as a stronger company. I believe this time will be no different. We've never seen a more pressing need for our products, and we know from that experience that restaurants that take advantage of this window to upscale and rescale will rebound faster and stronger than their competitors. I'd like to thank our customers, our partners and our team members for their continued support. And with that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A.

Our first question is from Andrew Scutt with ROTH Capital Partners.

So my first question revolves around the white space conversion. So if business conditions kind of improved here, you said about 6% of your stores were closed of Brink customers in July. Do you guys have greater visibility now into maybe capturing some of that white space that was available?

We're starting to. I think in July, we had a continued rebound that we saw in June, and I think August should be no different. I think as white space conversion will be a big part of our future for the rest of this year and 2021. A lot of it, actually, as a result of COVID. As I mentioned on the call, the conversations that we're having with our customers, I think has pulled many years of demand forward, because many of these customers of ours that we had partially rolled out look at their data and see that stores with Brink far overachieved those without Brink. And so there's an acceleration in those conversations, absolutely, and I think we'll see that in the next few quarters and years to come.

And then second question here, kind of a two-parter. So I know you guys had a kind of a major national customer that paused installs due to COVID and was looking earlier in the quarter to restart installs in the coming weeks. So I was wondering if those installs have restarted? And then just lead-time for an install. I know normally, it's about 6 to 8 weeks. Is that still the normal timeframe with the COVID pandemic still going on?

Great question. Every customer paused during the peak of the pandemic, and business essentially halted. That's why this quarter was remarkable, as we were still able to sign several stores despite the circumstances. This highlights the value of our products and the ongoing demand. Most customers have returned and started to install again, although this isn't universal. With the recent spikes in COVID cases in various states, the book-to-bill timeframe remains around 6 to 8 weeks. However, I expect some elongation of that timeframe as COVID remains prevalent in the United States. Customers are being more cautious with their rollout strategies now, opting for partial installations instead of whole ones. Overall, I don't see this as a long-term trend but rather a response to the fluctuating COVID situation, with some areas feeling comfortable returning to normal operations while others are still facing high case numbers.

Our next question is from Samad Samana with Jefferies.

First, I wanted to express my appreciation for your thoughtful letter to investors and the company in early June. It was very helpful during a time of uncertainty, so I wanted to provide that feedback. Now, regarding the quarter, the backlog increased by about 30% compared to the previous quarter, which is impressive, especially when considering the overall business. Could you help us understand the visibility into the backlog and how it compares to the past year, particularly in terms of timing for the backlog coming online? Additionally, what contributed to the backlog growth from Q1 to Q2?

Yes, that's a great question. Thank you for your comment on the letter. The increase in our backlog is primarily due to the state shutdowns in April, May, and part of June, which caused demand for our products to surge. Customers expressed the urgent need to implement digital solutions to address COVID, but many faced strict regulations limiting access to physical stores. It's easy to forget that during that time, most restaurants and businesses didn't permit non-employees on their premises. Consequently, the backlog increased due to these constraints. Now, as those restrictions are being lifted, we're beginning to see installations pick up, which should help us reduce the backlog. Importantly, our backlog is solid. Unlike many software companies, our backlog consists of committed, signed purchase orders, representing a very conservative outlook. We feel confident about our ability to fulfill these orders based on the commitments from both customers and ourselves. I anticipate that for the rest of 2020, the backlog will remain relatively high because bookings are likely to keep accelerating, and as I mentioned before, roll-offs will continue. However, customer rollout decisions are influenced by COVID trends on a state-by-state basis. In regions experiencing spikes, customers may slow down installations, while in areas with low COVID rates, they might speed up. This introduces some unpredictability due to the virus. Nonetheless, I expect both bookings and backlog to keep growing through the remainder of 2020.

I understand that many companies are finding it challenging to predict the future at the moment. However, do you have any updates on your confidence moving forward? Considering your long-term goal of achieving about 1,000 bookings per quarter, do you still believe you can reach that level again as conditions stabilize or as we adapt to a new normal?

Yes, I believe we have strong confidence that we will return to that level and even exceed it. In many respects, COVID has reinforced the demand for our products among existing customers, particularly where we still have significant opportunities. With many of our larger customers, we have not completed the rollout. There are around 10,000 to 12,000 stores under MSA that we have yet to convert. I expect a significant increase in those conversions. For example, one of our customers has completed about a third of the rollout. In that case, any store not using Brink did not have access to the mobile application. During COVID, restaurant operators in that chain without the mobile app faced substantial challenges compared to those using Brink, who benefited from access to the app. Therefore, I am very confident that we will exceed our original targets, as everyone faced the need to expedite digital solutions. While I cannot predict the exact timing, whether it will be this year or in 2021, I am very optimistic that our goals will be higher than we initially anticipated since COVID has underscored the pressing need for our product.

And then perhaps shifting focus a bit, you mentioned that you'll be investing in cross-selling or ramping up cross-selling efforts soon. Can you help us understand the go-to-market strategy for that? Will you need to make changes or additions to the sales team or consider partnerships to support this? How should we think about the development of that cross-sell strategy?

Yes. I would expect that it began with our acquisition of Restaurant Magic, which we are now offering to our customers. Looking at the pipeline for Restaurant Magic, over half of it has come through Brink. This shows our ability to influence our customers' buying decisions. Customers are increasingly asking their point-of-sale companies to take on more responsibilities. Previously, restaurant companies felt comfortable managing 12 or 13 different software products, but now they seek someone to help guide their IT transformation. This sales approach is being tested with Restaurant Magic, using our current sales force. We will continue to expand that sales force as we introduce more products. Our next area of growth will be in our payments business, which will start processing transactions by the end of this quarter and is expected to ramp up in Q4. For this business, we will use the same sales representatives, but we will add product specialists. From an infrastructure standpoint, we plan to continue expanding our sales team as we increase the number of stores. The specialists will support specific product lines. Each upsell will be treated as an individual product, with a dedicated product manager and product specialist assisting the sales team. This structure will resemble traditional ERP sales models, where there is one sales rep per customer, but that rep is supported by product specialists to facilitate additional sales.

And our next question comes from George Sutton with Craig-Hallum.

Savneet, Drive-Thru is an increasingly important area for quick-service restaurants. Can you discuss how you are addressing that opportunity?

Sure. So Drive-Thru absolutely come to the forefront of our customers' minds. And I think our acquisition was very lucky from a timing perspective. So we've seen very significant growth in Drive-Thru in May, June in July as well. And so we have restructured our team to be far more aggressive there. We will be launching a new set of products by the end of this year. And so it's receiving continued focus and interest from us. A lot of our Drive-Thru revenues in Q2 came towards the end of that, and so we crammed in quite a bit of revenue towards the end of Q2, and I think that momentum will continue in Q3. And then as we launch our new products within Drive-Thru by the end of the year, I think that will take us up another level.

You continue to talk about the value of having Brink versus not having Brink. I'm curious if there's been any further quantification of those benefits? And where that stands?

We don't quantify it because it's based on each customer's unique data. However, we can say that our customers have told us there is a significant difference between stores with modern infrastructure and those without. This difference may stem from advantages like better third-party delivery integrations or the ability to launch online or mobile ordering applications. While we lack categorical data, we are confident that customers with modern technology have significantly outperformed those without.

Lastly, we did pick up a DARPA win, about $12 million, and it sort of brought to mind the potential for a strategic option there. Any move closer there? Or where does that process stand in your view?

We cannot discuss possible acquisitions or divestitures. However, in the past, we have recognized that there isn't a long-term strategic alignment between our Government services business and our point-of-sale business. We will keep this in mind moving forward. The strengths in the Government sector could be beneficial as we consider potential transactions in the future.

Our next question comes from Mark Palmer with BTIG.

You mentioned that the payment product is set to be unveiled toward the end of the third quarter ramping up into the fourth quarter. Can you talk a little bit about what's gone into the preparations along those lines, especially insofar as the environment you're going to be launching into is different than the one that you had originally thought you were launching into?

Certainly. Earlier in our launch phase, our focus was primarily on table service customers who pay at the table, which presented a substantial opportunity for us. However, after COVID, that market diminished greatly. As a result, we have significantly adjusted our product to now cater to the more traditional Fast Casual customer segment. The changes we've implemented include determining which hardware products to integrate into the transaction. Since fewer people are dining in, we've moved away from pay-at-the-table devices and are now exploring products that suit the Fast Casual sector. We're also considering how to connect this to online ordering and processing in the future. This has been a rapid overhaul of our product, involving everything from our partners in payment facilitation to our risk models. We feel confident that we have adapted swiftly and expect revenue to begin coming in.

Our next question is from Adam Wyden with ADW Capital.

I believe the restaurant industry has faced an unprecedentedly tough period. It's great to hear that you have loyal customers and that you were able to not only install units but also secure a good amount of bookings. I have a few routine questions along with some broader ones. First, you've mentioned previously your ability to install units remotely, similar to how Toast has managed it by sending and training staff through resources like YouTube. Have you made any advancements in implementing a solution that doesn't require your team to physically enter the restaurant?

Yes. We call it self-install. So we continue to make progress on that. And I think it's obviously growing. It will be a longer-term transition for us in the sense that the customers we're rolling out today are customers we signed and made deals within planned translation quarters ago. And so it will continue to be a part of what we're doing. The challenge being that with the enterprise customer, once we've created a process, a set of approved vendors, to change that is sometimes more risk than convincing to do a self-install. So it's progressing. And I think as states have reopened, I don't think it will be a long-term bottleneck for us.

My second question builds on Mark's inquiry about payment. I understand that your initial focus was on table service. However, you are now in a distinct situation where you can differentiate between restaurants using Brink and those that are not. A significant portion of your clientele operates drive-thrus and carryout services, such as Arby's, Dairy Queen, CKE, and Five Guys, contributing to a strong and stable business with low churn. Looking ahead, as you aim to tap into new market opportunities and attract customers who have yet to adopt your service, I sense there may be concerns regarding capital expenditures and acquiring new terminals. You have clarified that the cost is manageable, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. Have you considered pairing your payment solutions with discounted or complimentary hardware? Observing your competitors, we see this practice in other industries as well. For instance, I recently obtained an iPhone 11, which has a retail price of $1,300, but AT&T offers it to me for, I don't know, $20 a month or even for free. I walked away with a high-end device, and now I can create various videos and content. If I were a business owner facing revenue limitations and unable to staff terminals effectively, I might consider acquiring Brink from you, reducing my workforce for carryout and delivery, and financing the payment contract that I'm already paying to someone else. It seems that with nearly all your peers fully integrated with payment systems, as a payment facilitator, you should strive for the same level of penetration. Additionally, you have the balance sheet capacity to support hardware financing and more. Given that your peers show a significant ratio of payment to SaaS, this seems like an opportunity that could greatly advance your business. Could you elaborate on this?

Yes, I believe we are on the same page. In the current COVID landscape, where budgets are constrained and uncertainty prevails, our customers are looking for ways to generate recurring revenue from hardware capital expenses. We are committed to meeting that need. When we approach our customers with Brink and present them with payment options, often at the same price or better than what they find elsewhere, and the choice to spread their hardware payments over time through a payment contract, I am very confident that this is an appealing solution for them now, even more so than before the pandemic.

We closely monitor the industry and engage with channel partners and industry professionals. Based on our research, it seems that you've made some progress and possibly even secured a few customers for the payment hardware that Brink manufactures. Could you share some details about those customer acquisitions you've achieved?

We can't, unfortunately until they're released. Our contracts require a joint cooperation on them. But what I'll say is two things. One, we've absolutely signed customers we find very attracted during COVID and expect to sign more in the coming weeks and months here. But second, I would say that our future pipeline of large logos has never been larger. The conversations we've had with dozen plus stores chains now is far bigger than it was last quarter, the quarter before and all of last year. And so that doesn't mean anything for 2020, but it absolutely means something for 2021 and 2022, which is where a lot of our confidence is coming from and that the long-term pipeline, if you will, is far deeper now than it was before COVID.

The third question is quite multifaceted. It seems you're very confident and believe that this represents a pivotal moment in the industry, similar to what we’ve seen with companies like Carvana and Wayfair, where COVID has triggered a shift in consumer behavior. I believe that Brink, along with carryout and delivery in quick-service restaurants, falls in the same category. We're seeing statistics suggesting that a significant number of restaurants nationwide might close permanently, particularly smaller table service establishments and various bars. Given the current economic situation, much of that consumer traffic is likely to shift toward quick-service restaurants, which will result in increased comparable sales and a greater need for labor efficiencies. However, it appears this is being categorized as a 'COVID stock' even though the stock has declined by 10% today. I find it difficult to understand why Lightspeed, which has a higher churn rate and is experiencing slower growth, is guiding for flat sequential growth while you are projecting more growth, especially when it trades at 21 times ARR compared to our much lower valuation. It feels like we have this same discussion every quarter, yet the market continues to delay recognizing the value of your execution. Can you shed light on what steps you are open to taking to better communicate this value and address the disparity? You acquired Restaurant Magic last year, which shows you are looking to purchase additional modules, potentially larger ones, but to do that, you require a favorable cost of capital which is currently lacking. What do you think can be done to address these concerns and give back to the shareholders?

I see this in a few different ways. Firstly, our execution is key. Compared to the companies you mentioned and others in the point-of-sale software space for retail, I believe our results are unmatched. I am very confident that we are performing better than our competitors. Additionally, I am equally confident in our future performance and our ability to follow through on our plans. We must execute well. Secondly, we've previously discussed the importance of communicating our story better. We are working to enhance clarity around our metrics, making our numbers more transparent and focusing on the important ones, such as our bookings growth and expectations for ARR growth during COVID. I believe this will continue. Regarding mergers and acquisitions, we have been clear about maintaining ongoing discussions actively. We see several strategic opportunities that align with our product line. However, executing a transaction relies on a balance between our stock price and our capacity to issue shares. Our goal is to execute effectively and ensure people know we are performing well and achieving results. I am not certain what more we can do, but if we stay focused on execution and getting our message out, everything should align over time.

Yes. I believe that the payments aspect has historically been a challenge, and the previous management team may not have had the necessary understanding. In some ways, that might have been beneficial because the company was very product-focused and managed to create a great product even without a robust balance sheet. Now, with a solid product and improvements allowing for quicker upgrades and resolution of research and development issues, you have an efficient operation along with a strong balance sheet and a capable team. Given all of this, if you can implement a 3:1 payment ratio similar to your peers, it would be remarkable and significantly enhance the company, even at this stage.

Yes, I apologize for interrupting. I'm incredibly excited about the opportunities ahead of us. The fact that we closed as many bookings in Q2 as we did in Q1 is something I never anticipated. It's astonishing that we managed to get installations completed in Q2, especially considering that nothing was accomplished for two months of that quarter. However, I recognize that we're just scratching the surface. We're only at about 10,000 restaurants, while there are hundreds of thousands of potential opportunities. Moreover, we have yet to explore payments, which could become our largest revenue source in the future. We also haven't fully tapped into the market for our leading enterprise point-of-sale product, and we've only just begun to take it to market. Throughout my time here, the majority of our focus has been on product development rather than sales and marketing, ensuring that we establish a solid foundation for scaling. As we shift management's focus toward sales and marketing, I believe we will perform as well as anyone else in the industry, and I expect that from our team. We have not used COVID as an excuse; our management targets remain consistent with what they were when we started, and we approach our objectives with a no-excuses mindset. Finally, the quality of our team has significantly improved. The Brink team has transformed almost entirely over the past year, and we've continually added exceptional talent that I wouldn’t have imagined hiring just six months ago. While I can't predict what Q3 will bring, I know that as we expand, these advancements will build upon each other over time.

Yes, that's good. When I think about the situation, I categorize stocks into two groups: COVID stocks and non-COVID stocks. As you know, I'm not primarily a technology investor; I invest in a variety of sectors. I evaluate opportunities based on how they compare to others in different industries. Companies like Carvana, Wayfair, Peloton, and Nautilus come to mind. When I consider PAR and Brink restaurant management, I see them as clear beneficiaries of the COVID environment. Fewer people are dining in at table-service restaurants, and those who do are likely to order delivery instead. Living in Florida, I order food on apps like Grubhub and Seamless multiple times a day, whereas in New York, I would just go out to eat. This shift in consumer behavior is permanent. People are becoming accustomed to ordering food via their phones, similar to how they have adopted shopping on platforms like Wayfair, Amazon, or Carvana. I firmly believe PAR is a COVID stock and is benefiting directly from the pandemic. Competitors like Toast have downsized their enterprise sales teams, and companies like Oracle and NCR aren’t investing effectively in this space. I don’t want to exaggerate and compare PAR to Amazon, but they do own a vital segment of restaurants, and a lot of attention and investment is flowing into this category without much competition, particularly on an international scale. Many partners like Dairy Queen and Restaurant Brands International have extensive global operations. If a CIO is focused domestically, that role also encompasses international responsibilities. I'm with you on this and just trying to figure out why investors are favoring less promising options.

I believe we will reach our goal, Adam. We have two more questions and two more people waiting. Thank you, Adam.

Our next question comes from Brad Hathaway with Far View.

Just want to ask broadly on the competitive environment. I mean, obviously, we saw some retrenchment from Toast and some of the other players earlier. And I'm wondering if you're seeing any more kind of activity or what you're seeing maybe from the legacy guys? I guess, is there increased competitive intensity? Or has it continued to kind of be a little lighter? Just curious as to what you're seeing there.

Yes. I think the competitive intensity is definitely lighter where it was before, particularly, I'd say, on price. I think a year ago, our win rates were extremely high. Where it was frustrating was that the competitive intensity with people coming in trying to undercut on price. A lot of those companies, I don't see them nearly as active anymore, and so it's going to very much help our ability to maintain price. Relative to the legacy players, I don't think we've seen a drastic difference one way or the other way. I certainly haven't seen them say, this is our moment to come back and be there for you. And that's the void that we're trying to fulfill for our customers. So I think we feel pretty good about the competitive environment today. And I think, to be frank, the moves that we're making, it wouldn't have mattered, but certainly, this has helped.

I mean, obviously, as you've said, everyone in the restaurant industry seems to see that cloud is the future here. Do you see any increased kind of development or effort from the legacy guys to say, oh, we really need to shift to cloud and really make that a priority?

I believe everyone understands the changes underway. There is no doubt they notice the turnover. However, the challenge lies in innovation. One way to illustrate this is that many of our longstanding competitors can improve their products, yet they are unable to restore trust. Often, they have maintained relationships with customers for 10, 15, or even 20 years, but their history of poor service and overcharging has damaged their reputation. Many customers are expressing that they prefer to work with someone they trust, regardless of any transitions to cloud products. Therefore, they not only face the challenge of enhancing their product offerings, but they also have to rebuild trust, which is significantly more difficult. Thank you, Brad.

Our next question comes from Ishfaque Faruk with Sidoti & Company.

I have a couple of questions. First, regarding Toast. With Toast reducing their enterprise group, could you share how things have been going for you since that change? Are you noticing an increase in customer interest for Brink and Restaurant Magic as a result?

I believe we are witnessing considerable customer interest over the past few months, largely due to the impact of the COVID pandemic rather than shifts from our competitors. As we have mentioned frequently, our primary competitors are the established providers. While I have a great deal of respect for Toast and other emerging competitors, they are typically not who we face in the final stages of significant deals. More often, we are competing against larger companies like Oracle and NCR rather than smaller firms. Therefore, while it hasn’t drastically altered our pipeline, it certainly contributes positively.

Regarding the payments opportunity, considering the challenges some smaller restaurants are facing in the current environment due to COVID, will your payment plans be delayed compared to your original timeline?

They are definitely behind schedule compared to our initial plans for the year, but they are on track given the adjustments we made. At the beginning of the year, we had a solid strategy for our channel and cable service products targeting payments, which seemed like the easiest market to enter due to the high hardware capital expenditures we could offset. For instance, a table service restaurant might invest around $20,000 in hardware upgrades, and if we can help offset that, our value proposition becomes very compelling. That was our focus. However, COVID forced us to quickly rethink our market approach, as selling to small restaurants or table services was not feasible. Now that we are in September and processing transactions, we've shifted our focus back to our traditional Fast Casual sector. I believe we've established a strong go-to-market strategy and assembled an excellent team. We not only adjusted our product but also revamped the team. Therefore, I fully expect to see significant volumes starting this quarter and continuing into Q4. As mentioned by another caller, the appeal of offsetting hardware capital expenditures is definitely stronger now than it was back in February.

Our next question comes from Craig Irwin with Roth Capital.

Most of my question has already been asked. But Savneet, can you maybe update us on what the peak installs were over the last 90, 100 days? I mean, what was the peak number of installs during any single week? And how does that compare versus your pre-COVID peak installs? And would you attribute all of that gap to COVID? Or is there some of this uncertainty in the customer base now that might be working to the downside versus the upside? Or is this really just a capacity issue right now?

It’s a great question. Looking at the last two weeks of March and April, we experienced very low installs due to everything being shut down. We began to see an increase in May, and by June, we were averaging about 50 to 60 go-lives each week, and that number is growing. Currently, our main challenge is not capacity but rather coordinating closely with our customers on their desired go-live dates. The ability to reduce our backlog of 1,500 stores is more dependent on customers requesting to go live now rather than any capacity limitations on our part. If it weren't for COVID, I believe we would easily be exceeding 1,000 stores per quarter. However, due to COVID, we are being more cautious. For instance, we had a chain that decided to halt installs in Florida, which affected our progress. The situation remains a bit unpredictable, but the overall trajectory is still very strong.

How have things trended since June? Now that July is behind us, have we seen a slight increase, or are things remaining at the same levels?

We experienced significant growth in the second half of June, which has continued into July. Thank you, Craig.

And this concludes our Q&A session for today. I would like to turn the call back over to Savneet Singh for his final remarks.

Thanks, everybody, for joining the call. We look forward to updating you in the near future.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for participating in today's conference. You may now disconnect. Have a wonderful day.