Contrarian Corpus

134 documents showing 61–120

Third Point 2018-10-01

Campbell Soup Company CPB

Campbell's incumbent board delivered 19% TSR vs 306% S&P over 20 years; replace the entire board with Third Point's Independent Slate to unlock $52-58/share via turnaround, breakup, or sale.

N5 V4 C4
Third Point 2018-07-01

Nestlé S.A. NESN

Nestlé has been too slow to adapt to a changing consumer industry; adopting a #NestléNOW mindset — sharper strategy, bolder portfolio divestitures including the L'Oréal stake, and a three-division split — can double EPS by 2022.

N5 V4 C4
Muddy Waters 2018-06-13

TAL Education Group TAL

TAL is a real business with fake financials: two asset-parking transactions inflated FY2016-FY2018 pre-tax profits by $153M (28.4%) while Deloitte China was starved of audit hours.

N5 V2 C2
Greenlight Capital 2018-04-23

Assured Guaranty AGO

Assured Guaranty is a melting-ice-cube bond insurer aggressively returning capital it hasn't earned; Puerto Rico losses alone (2-4x reserves) will force a capital raise or strip the AA rating it needs to write new business.

N5 V2 C2
Elliott Management 2018-04-23

Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors) 012330.KS / 005380.KS / 000270.KS

Mobis, HMC and Kia trade at 57%, 26% and 73% EV/EBITDA discounts to global peers — peers re-rate if structure is fixed

N5 V4 C4
Carl Icahn 2018-04-17

Xerox Corporation XRX

Xerox's CEO is handing 50.1% control to Fuji 'without spending a penny' for ~$28/share; vote down the deal and replace the board to unlock $54-$64 standalone.

N5 V3 C3
Elliott Management 2018-04-05

Telecom Italia SpA (TIM) TIT.MI

Vivendi controls TIM with just 24% voting stake, running it as a subsidiary while minorities suffer

N5 V4 C4
Muddy Waters 2017-12-06

OSI Systems, Inc. OSIS

OSIS is rotten to the core: the Albania concession was obtained via an apparent bribe, the Mexico turnkey is egregiously priced and up for renewal, and FCPA liability could erase a large chunk of the $1.6bn market cap.

N5 V2 C2
Trian Partners 2017-09-06

The Procter & Gamble Company PG

P&G's long-tenured Board has rewarded a decade of market-share loss and bottom-quartile EPS growth; electing Nelson Peltz adds the shareholder voice needed to fix innovation, productivity, M&A and governance.

N5 V4 C4
Pershing Square 2017-08-17

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ADP

Employer Services margins are 1,500-2,000 bps below potential vs. Paychex and peers

N5 V4 C4
Elliott Management 2017-05-16

BHP Billiton BHP

US$46bn value unlock: demerger (+$15bn) + capital return (+$20bn) + franking credits (+$11bn)

N5 V4 C4
Greenlight Capital 2017-05-08

Core Laboratories CLB

Core Lab trades at 35x 2018e P/E — double its oilfield-service peers — on a false secular-growth narrative; mid-cycle earnings imply $62 fair value and ~45% downside.

N5 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2017-05-08

Howard Hughes Corporation HHC

HHC owns the best public-market analogue to Donald Bren's $15B Irvine Ranch MPC empire

N5 V4 C4
Marcato 2017-04-20

Buffalo Wild Wings BWLD

Sally Smith-led BWLD has underperformed peers, mismanaged margins, and wasted capital buying back franchise stores; replacing the board and refranchising to 90% unlocks a higher multiple.

N5 V4 C4
Elliott Management 2017-04-11

Arconic Inc. ARNC

Arconic shareholders lost ~70% of their value; CEO Kleinfeld is one of the worst-performing tenured CEOs in the U.S.

N5 V5 C5
Muddy Waters 2016-12-16

China Huishan Dairy Holdings 6863 HK

Huishan is a fraud worth close to zero — fabricated alfalfa self-sufficiency inflates margins, RMB 1.6bn of CapEx is fictitious, and Chairman Yang has siphoned farms to a related party.

N5 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2016-12-13

Nidec Corp. 6594 JP

Nidec is a gigantic stock promotion: zero organic growth and aggressive accounting hide behind a Facebook-like multiple — fair value JPY 4,764, ~52% downside.

N5 V2 C2
Greenlight Capital 2016-11-28

Bayer AG BAYN

Bayer at €88/11x trades in no-man's land between Monsanto deal-sceptics and deal-believers; whether the merger closes or breaks, Bayer shareholders get cake.

N5 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2016-08-25

St. Jude Medical, Inc. STJ

St. Jude's $23B cardiac-device franchise rests on a Merlin ecosystem so insecure that hackers can crash pacemakers from 50 feet — a recall and two-year remediation imply 50%+ downside and likely covenant breach.

N5 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2016-03-08

Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA CO

Casino's claimed France recovery is fiction: Mercialys property gains inflate EBITDA, suppliers are being stretched, and the CFO's earnings-call language shows deception clusters.

N5 V1 C1
Greenlight Capital 2015-11-16

CONSOL Energy CNX

Market prices CONSOL as a dying coal miner, but its Marcellus/Utica shale gas acreage plus disciplined management make it worth $35.81/share versus $7.40 today.

N5 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2015-10-30

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International VRX

Citron's 'next Enron' channel-stuffing claim is verifiably false; Philidor accounting is conservative

N5 V3 C3
Citron Research 2015-10-21

Valeant Pharmaceuticals VRX

Philidor and R&O Pharmacy are the same entity — evidence of phantom accounts to book revenue

N5 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2015-08-01

Herbalife Ltd. HLF

Herbalife pays multi-level royalties on unlimited downlines, violating China's pyramid-sales laws

N5 V3 C2
Greenlight Capital 2015-05-04

Pioneer Natural Resources PXD

Pioneer and the shale 'frackers' burn cash and destroy value on every BOE developed; their $27B market cap rests on proved reserves worth $3-8B — buy oil, not PXD.

N5 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2015-05-04

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International VRX

Platform companies are undervalued because P/E ignores value from future acquisitions

N5 V4 C4
Trian Partners 2015-04-22

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company DD

DuPont is a chronically underperforming conglomerate; electing Trian's four nominees forces structural review, cost cuts, and governance reform to unlock $120+/share by 2017 — a 21% IRR.

N5 V4 C4
Trian Partners 2015-04-21

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company DD

DuPont is bottom-quartile under Ellen Kullman; electing Trian's four nominees unlocks $120/share by 2017 by cutting $2-4bn of excess corporate costs and ending 'crony' compensation.

N5 V4 C4
Trian Partners 2015-04-21

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) DD

DuPont is a chronically underperforming conglomerate bloated with $2-4bn of excess costs; putting Trian on the board unlocks a $120+/share, 21% IRR path by 2017.

N5 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2015-02-17

Bolloré SA BOL FP

Bolloré's Breton-Pulleys circular ownership masks that public float is 42.8% not 24.3%; at €4.37 shares trade at 41% of €10.63 NAV — 95% upside to €8.50.

N5 V2 C2
Trian Partners 2015-02-17

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) DD

DuPont is an underperforming conglomerate burdened with $2-4bn of excess costs; elect Trian's four nominees to drive separation, cost cuts, and board accountability.

N5 V3 C3
Starboard Value 2014-09-11

Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI

Darden's brands and real estate are worth $67-$86/share vs. $48 today — replace the entire board to execute the Brinker playbook: operational turnaround, real-estate separation, SRG spin-off.

N5 V3 C3
Starboard Value 2014-09-11

Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI

Darden underperformed direct peers by ~300% over 5 years under current Board

N5 V3 C4
Greenlight Capital 2014-05-05

athenahealth ATHN

athenahealth is the poster child of the cloud 'bubble basket' — strip Morgan Stanley's fantasy margin and revenue-per-doctor assumptions and the stock falls 80%+ toward a $50 adjusted DCF.

N5 V2 C2
Starboard Value 2014-03-31

Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI

Darden's rushed Red Lobster spin is the wrong deal at the wrong time — it traps ~$850M of real estate value and blocks a $1-2B REIT unlock; shareholders must call a Special Meeting to stop it.

N5 V3 C3
Trian Partners 2014-02-19

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP

PepsiCo has chronically underperformed because its 'Power of One' holding-company structure suffocates Frito-Lay and Pepsi; separate them into two focused companies and the combined value will re-rate materially higher.

N5 V3 C2
Elliott Management 2014-01-13

Juniper Networks JNPR

Juniper underperformed NASDAQ by 104% over 3 years — value destruction is avoidable

N5 V4 C4
Glenview 2013-07-01

Health Management Associates HMA

HMA's insular 17-year-tenure board drove a Lost Decade of <1% TSR; replace all directors with Glenview's blue-chip slate to fix governance, compensation, and capital allocation.

N5 V3 C3
Trian Partners 2013-07-01

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP

PepsiCo's snacks and beverages are structurally incompatible — Trian demands a Mondelez merger plus beverage spin (or a clean snacks/beverages separation), unlocking up to $175/share by 2015 vs. $85 today.

N5 V3 C3
Oasis Management 2013-06-06

Nintendo Co., Ltd. 7974.T

Nintendo trades at 0.9x book with 67% of market cap in net cash; publishing Mario and Pokémon on iOS/Android unlocks freemium upside of 97-240%.

N5 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2013-04-09

Herbalife Ltd. HLF

Herbalife distributors earn 10x more from recruitment than from retail product sales

N5 V2 C1
Elliott Management 2013-03-01

Hess Corporation HES

Hess intrinsic value is $96-$128/share vs. discounted current price - ~$50bn TEV trapped in opaque conglomerate

N5 V4 C4
Greenlight Capital 2013-02-21

Apple Inc. AAPL

Apple's $137B idle cash depresses its P/E; distribute 'iPrefs' — tax-free perpetual preferred stock paying 4% — to unlock ~$150/share without spending a dollar of cash.

N5 V3 C3
Elliott Management 2013-01-29

Hess Corporation HES

Hess intrinsic value is over $126/share — 94-153% upside to the current price

N5 V4 C4
Pershing Square 2012-12-20

Herbalife Ltd. HLF

Formula 1 is a $2bn 'brand nobody's heard of' — sales economics defy any genuine consumer demand

N5 V4 C4
Pershing Square 2012-12-20

Herbalife Ltd. HLF

Herbalife is a pyramid scheme: distributors profit by recruiting, not retail sales

N5 V4 C4
Muddy Waters 2012-11-27

Olam International Ltd. SGX:O32

Olam is an Enron-style agri trader whose aggressive non-cash accounting, off-the-rails CapEx binge, and 9.3x leverage mask a failing trading business — equity likely worthless, bonds 14-33¢.

N5 V2 C1
Muddy Waters 2012-07-18

New Oriental Education & Technology Group EDU

New Oriental is hiding an extensive franchising operation, filing fraudulent tax-exempt financials in Beijing and using a cosmetic VIE — expect a restatement and Deloitte to resign.

N5 V2 C2
Elliott Management 2012-05-31

BMC Software BMC

BMC has underperformed every peer and index over 1-, 2-, 3-year and YTD windows

N5 V4 C4
Pershing Square 2012-05-16

J.C. Penney Company, Inc. JCP

Ron Johnson (Target, Apple Retail) can repeat his retail magic at chronically mismanaged JCP

N5 V4 C4
Muddy Waters 2012-02-09

Focus Media Holding FMCN

FMCN's 'independent' verification of its 185,174 LCD network counted 30,500 cardboard posters as LCDs, confirming Muddy Waters' fraud thesis and impugning all reported financials.

N5 V2 C2
Pershing Square 2012-02-06

Canadian Pacific Railway CP

CP has the worst operating ratio of any Class I railroad while closest peer CN has the best

N5 V4 C5
Muddy Waters 2011-11-21

Focus Media Holding Ltd. FMCN

Focus Media is the Olympus of China: it inflates its LCD screen count by 50%, systematically overpays for acquisitions it writes off, and enriches insiders at shareholders' expense.

N5 V2 C2
Greenlight Capital 2011-10-17

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters GMCR

GMCR's $9 EPS bull case ignores a smaller TAM, falling K-cup attachment rates, a September 2012 patent cliff, and accounting shenanigans at fulfillment agent MBlock — realistic EPS is ~$3.50.

N5 V2 C2
Pershing Square 2011-09-14

Hong Kong Monetary Authority / HKD-USD Peg

HKD peg forces Hong Kong to import ultra-loose U.S. monetary policy despite a vastly stronger economy

N5 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2011-06-02

Sino-Forest Corporation TRE

Sino-Forest is a fraud: its Authorized Intermediary structure fabricates timber revenue, its Yunnan holdings are overstated by ~$900M, and equity is worth less than $1 vs. $18.21.

N5 V2 C2
Pershing Square 2011-05-25

Family Dollar Stores FDO

FDO trades at same ~9x forward EBIT as Dollar General despite 37% performance gap

N5 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2011-04-04

Duoyuan Global Water Inc. DGW

DGW is a massive fraud overstating revenue by 100x; forged PRC audits, empty factory, and related-party tunneling to Chairman Guo imply the stock is worth under $1.

N5 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2010-11-10

RINO International Corp. RINO

RINO is a near-zero: 94% of its reported revenue is fabricated, customers deny buying its FGD systems, and founders are draining cash via the VIE; fair value $2.45 vs. $15.52.

N5 V2 C2
Greenlight Capital 2010-10-13

The St. Joe Company JOE

St. Joe's Florida real estate empire is a value trap: developments are ghost towns, the airport catalyst is a bust, and the land is worth $7-10/share, not $24.54.

N5 V3 C3