Toast's CEO and Chair Transition Unlikely to Affect Investors, Analyst Says

Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin reiterated Toast Inc TOST with an Overweight and a $27 price target.

This morning, TOST announced a management transition plan where CEO Chris Comparato will transition to a board role in January 2024, and current COO and Co-Founder Aman Narang will become CEO. Additionally, effective January 2024, Mark Hawkins will become Chairman of the Board. While the transition is a surprise, based on Narang's history in a sales operations role as a co-founder, he does not expect investor sentiment on Toast to be meaningfully affected. 

COO & Co-Founder Aman Narang to become CEO effective January 1, 2024. 

Aman Narang co-founded Toast in 2011 and has held various leadership roles across the company as it has scaled, including sales, marketing, business development, customer success, fintech, and operations. 

He most recently served as chief operating officer since June 2021 and has served as co-president since December 2012. 

CEO Chris Comparato to remain on the Toast Board of Directors. CEO Chris Comparato will be stepping down as Toast CEO and Chairperson of the Board effective January 1, 2024.

However, he will continue serving as a member of the Board. Mr. Comparato joined Toast in 2015 and helped the company reach ~93,000 restaurant locations, surpass $1 billion in ARR, scale from 50 to 4,500 employees, and lead the company during its 2021 IPO. 

Mark Hawkins, the Lead Independent Director, will become the Toast Board of Directors Chair effective January 1, 2024. 

Price Action: TOST shares traded lower by 1.65% at $21.62 on the last check Tuesday.