DocuSign could be suffering from a pandemic growth hangover

At first days of the pandemic, I had to have a document certified. I met the notary at my local bank office. She took my document and my ID through a crack in the door. She looked at him while I waited outside. Eventually, she gave me back the document and my license; I signed it and gave it back to him for his stamp. It would have all been so much easier online.

DocuSign looks like a slam dunk of a company. It helped define the digital signature category, an idea that took hold during the pandemic when meetings in an office became impossible, but business still had to be done. And yet, the company’s shares have been in freefall since 2021, when they peaked at more than $300 per share. Today it’s less than $60.

To be fair, DocuSign is one of many SaaS companies that has seen its value plummet since the market peaked in late 2021, but that solves a real problem in a world that’s still stuck in paper-based workflows. Why, then, does it suffer the same fate as companies that might be considered less critical?

From the outside, the company’s struggle to retain value and grow seems a bit confusing given its role in digital transformation. Sure, the economy has hit many SaaS companies, but there’s probably more to it than a general tech slowdown could explain. It moved on to a new CEO when it brought on former Google advertising chief Allan Thygesen last year. Maybe it was a sign that things weren’t right.

More recently, the company announced on its earnings call earlier this month that chief financial officer Cynthia Gaylor is stepping down after 4.5 years with the company in various roles.