News: DW8 Dw8 Ltd - Q2 Operating Revenue Grew 78% On Prior Quarter Q1 Fy2022, page-24

Trying to proxy a like-for-like comp with all the integrations and projects going on that DT and Mike provided context on is impossible (unless you have full access to the books). Imo that will lead to the wrong conclusions because of the obfuscated nature of the way various types of operating costs and investment expenditures run through that account plus timing implications which they explained rather well.

It fails to appreciate they are not kicking the can down the road to drip-feed changes over many quarters as is sometimes the case. They are focused on getting to one fully integrated platform model asap, eliminating overlap and duplicitous costs that were a concern. It is very positive they put ego re sunk costs and legacy systems aside and address that immediately rather than doing it in stages which while operationally more complex will be accretive to EBITDA a lot sooner. Hats off to them.

AMZN got flack for decades about their continuous reinvestment in the business from instos that at times were raising the same comp concern. Not saying this is AMZN or that there will be endless investments, simply stating there are comps investors can use to gain relative perspective on this issue and how it has been accretive to both top and bottom-line growth and the SP.