$YOU.L: is YouGov really an AI loser? | Jonathan Cohen, Zipperline Capital

The market has decided YouGov ($YOU.L) is an AI loser and cut it ~50% in a year. Jonathan Cohen of Zipperline Capital thinks it's an AI winner trading at 6-7x EBITDA, with a 20-year proprietary dataset AI makes more valuable, not less. We spend the first half on the UK as an "emerging market" (corporate governance discounts, why buybacks are finally happening, and why you can never compare UK and US multiples), then go deep on YouGov: the panel, the moat, synthetic data, and why the company is cancelling its dividend to buy back stock.This episode is sponsored by my upcoming AI webinar with AlphaSense.The AI landscape has never been more crowded — or more confusing. Everyone's telling you to adopt AI, but almost nobody's asking the harder question: which tools actually give you an edge?I'm sitting down with Dave Wang of Wall Street Prompt and Ben Collins of AlphaSense to break down the modern AI stack for investors — from horizontal platforms like OpenAI and Claude to agentic workflows and finance-specific intelligence tools — and where each one actually fits in a real research process. If you're trying to build an AI-enabled workflow that sharpens your judgment rather than replacing it, you won't want to miss this.Join us on June 25th - register now: https://www.alpha-sense.com/resources/webinars/choosing-your-ai-stack-a-framework-for-institutional-investors/?utm_source=pt_YAVP&utm_medium=sponsored&utm_campaign=SWB_DG_06-25-26_IMP-GENAI_CORPFS_YAVP-AI-SolutionsChapters:00:00 Why YouGov could be the AI winner the market is misreading02:56 Why Jonathan Cohen runs a UK and Europe small/mid-cap book08:01 Why you can never compare UK and US multiples13:08 What UK analyst coverage actually tells you17:37 The shift toward UK buybacks and capital allocation22:00 The "buybacks kill liquidity" myth25:11 What YouGov really is: a proprietary data business31:19 Inside the panel: why people answer, and why retention is the moat36:52 Why the market thinks YouGov is an AI loser38:19 The bull case: why AI makes YouGov more valuable40:55 Synthetic data, and why it breaks46:28 Trust as a moat in a world of AI slop52:27 Pushback: Chegg, Wix, and the real AI losers56:51 Content businesses vs distribution businesses01:00:14 Music, media, and what compounds through disruption01:05:38 ClosingLinks:Yet Another Value Blog - https://www.yetanothervalueblog.comSee our legal disclaimer here: https://www.yetanothervalueblog.com/p/legal-and-disclaimerProduction and editing by The Podcast Consultant - https://thepodcastconsultant.com/