Where Does InterCloud Systems Inc (OTCMKTS:ICLD) Go From Here?

InterCloud Systems Inc (OTCMKTS:ICLD) is a stock that we have spent quite a bit of time with over the last twelve months and it's one that – across the period – has been a bit of a wild ride.Right now, the company goes for $0.006 a share at a market cap of just $2.5 million.That's substantially lower than its pricing just a few months ago and its near the bottom end of the InterCloud's 52-week range. ICLD Daily ChartWhere the company goes from here is anyone's guess, but for us, it looks as though we might see some near-term strength. A spike in volume yesterday translated to a parallel spike in price, and InterCloud closed out the session on Wednesday for a 15% premium to its open price.So what is our thesis rooted in?Well, this is an interesting situation.InterCloud is a technology company that grew too quickly during the early part of this decade and, as a result, became bloated, unprofitable and saddled by an incredible amount of debt. This meant that, while the company was generating substantial revenues, it just wasn’t an attractive allocation for an investor.Fast forward to the start of this year and things started to change.Management outlined a plan to get things under control and has spent 2017 putting this strategy into effect.A number of subsidiaries have been dropped, debt has been restructured and the company has basically become a streamlined, and much leaner, version of its previous self.The latest announcement, which hit press early last week, falls in line with the continuation of this shift. The company announced on October 17 that it had entered into an agreement with the holder of certain term notes issued by Intercloud, exchanging the debt for preferred equity. The agreement is with the company's former president and has seen Intercloud exchange over $5.4 million of convertible debt and eliminate over $1.8 million of accrued interest in exchange for approximately $2.3 million of preferred equity.That's a small figure when compared against the overall debt number (just shy of $40 million in short and long-term combined) but it's a part of the above discussed overarching debt reduction strategy and – according to the company's CEO Mark Munro – it's the first of a wave of near-term similar agreements with other convertible note holders.So the end goal here is for InterCloud to become an entity that's debt free. This isn’t going to happen overnight and – while there remains debt on the books (and especially debt that outweighs annual revenues) – there's going to be a certain weight impacting sentiment. This, in turn, is likely to put a bit of pressure on share price.With that said, however, the pressure should be light enough to allow the company to appreciate in value, so long as the company is able to maintain its trend of streamlining activity.That's a big ask but it's far from unachievable and with Munro at the helm, there's a strong chance we could see the company achieve its debt-free goal by this time next year.The bottom line here is this: this isn’t the same company today as it was in October 2016 and it will be a different company again in October 2018. With each of these iterations, InterCloud becomes a bit more attractive as a long-term investment asset.Going forward, and as far as near-term catalysts are concerned, we'd like to more of the debt restructuring-type announcements to demonstrated Munro's ability to maintain momentum towards debt clearance as well as some fresh contracts hitting press to demonstrate that the company can still attract business while in the midst of a restructuring.Check out our previous coverage of this one here. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on ICLD, sign up below!Image courtesy of Leonid Mamchenkov via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in ICLD and have not been compensated for this article.