Hello,
Today I’ll be taking a closer look at Rand Worldwide and its division, IMAGINiT Technologies—the largest Autodesk reseller in North America. It’s a company that’s been on my watchlist for nearly five years, ever since I first came across it in one of Alluvial Capital’s letters.
While $RWWI was once something of a micro-cap darling, there’s hardly any interest in it today. No surprise there—the stock is down more than 40% from its February 2023 all-time highs, and anyone who bought in over the past four years is now staring at red on their broker screen.
Adding to that, Rand—and Autodesk VARs (value-added resellers) in general—have been navigating major shifts over the past two years. The first was Autodesk’s rollout of 3-year subscription incentives, which temporarily boosted revenues. The second, more significant shift is Autodesk’s move to an agency model, under which it now manages billing and payment processing directly rather than through its resellers.
The first of these changes is a short-term headwind—Rand is now comping against the temporary boost from Autodesk’s 3-year subscription incentives. And that should flip into a tailwind by spring 2026. The second change poses a real threat, but only to smaller, non–value-added resellers, not to Platinum Partners like Imaginit (Rand). My research suggests that this shift will actually strengthen $RWWI’s position as the market consolidates on the supply side—allowing the big to get bigger.
This shift also introduced accounting changes that make reported revenue look lower, even though gross profit is unaffected—a nuance that likely led many casual observers to think Rand’s business was deteriorating. Add to that the fact that most newer investors “grew up” in the SaaS era and have limited understanding of alternative software distribution models, and it’s easy to see why Rand continues to fly under the radar.
At the current price, you’re paying 7.8× EV/EBIT and 10.6× earnings for Rand—a compounder that’s grown EBIT at a 24% CAGR over the past decade and is still riding on Autodesk U.S., which just accelerated to 16% YoY growth last quarter. And that valuation is based on what’s arguably been a softer, transitional year for Rand.
Moreover, all this was achieved through an asset-light model—without the need to invest in PP&E or hold inventory. That’s why Peter Kamin, the controlling shareholder (or as one subreddit once called him, “the Carl Icahn of OTC stocks”), had no issue returning 78% of net income as special dividends over the past decade and 93% over the past five years, supplemented by a few bolt-on acquisitions.
Again, the thesis is simple: you’re getting a high single-digit dividend yield (assuming the current payout ratio holds) and asset-light exposure to Autodesk’s growth—all at just 10.5× LTM P/E. Nearly all of the cash this business generates gets returned to shareholders, yet the opportunity remains both overlooked and misunderstood.
It’s overlooked for the reasons mentioned earlier, and misunderstood because truly grasping what kind of reseller Rand is—and what Autodesk’s shift to an agency model actually means—requires real digging. You have to go through competitor filings, listen to their earnings calls, and connect the dots from Autodesk’s own commentary. I believe very few investors have done that, which is why many still assume Rand’s model is at risk of disruption.
I set out to do exactly that and am sharing the research below—supporting my claims, exploring the nuances as well as discussing the expected IRR calculation, the jockey and the risks. That process gave me the conviction to finally initiate a position, after a fair amount of hesitation in the past.
And If you’re wondering why I disclosed the ticker above the paywall, it’s because $RWWI has been discussed online before and, at around a $500M market cap, it’s larger than the companies I usually cover.
With the thesis outlined, let’s dive in.