Contrarian Corpus

670 documents showing 421–480

Pershing Square 2018-01-29

Pershing Square Holdings (fund-level annual review covering multiple portfolio companies: ADP, QSR, MDLZ, HHC, CMG, FNMA/FMCC, PAH, NKE, HLF, SPGI) PSH

Pershing Square has restructured to a smaller, investment-centric organization — 'returning to our roots'

N3 V3 C2
Spruce Point Capital 2018-01-25

Ballard Power Systems BLDP

Ballard's 167% 2017 rally rests on a fragile China fuel-cell story with weak partners and zero insider skin; expect a repeat of the Azure failure and 35-70% downside to $1.15-$2.50.

N4 V3 C3
Carl Icahn 2018-01-18

Xerox Corporation XRX

Xerox is languishing under CEO Jacobson and old-guard directors; Icahn is nominating four new directors and demands CEO replacement plus renegotiation of the opaque Fuji joint venture.

N4 V2 C1
Starboard Value 2018-01-08

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. MLNX

Mellanox has industry-leading 70%+ gross margins but dead-last operating margins among fabless semis; disciplined cost cuts can close a multi-year peer gap and rerate the stock.

N4 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2017-12-20

China Internet Nationwide Financial Services Inc. CIFS

CIFS is an old-style China reverse-merger fraud dressed up as a Reg A+ IPO; SAIC filings show 5x revenue overstatement, every disclosed borrower is a sham, and the equity is worthless.

N4 V2 C2
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
Land & Buildings 2017-11-13

Taubman Centers TCO

Taubman's dominant Class A malls are still bustling and growing, yet TCO is down 25% YTD — management, not 'dead malls,' is the problem, with 50%+ upside if the board acts.

N4 V3 C3
Kerrisdale Capital 2017-11-01

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADMS

Kerrisdale is long ADMS: Gocovri, the only FDA-approved drug for levodopa-induced dyskinesia, plus an MS and Vimpat XR pipeline, is worth over $100/share versus ~$25 today.

N4 V3 C2
Marcato 2017-11-01

Deckers Outdoor Corporation DECK

Deckers' board missed every margin target and wasted $600m on retail bloat and Sanuk; replacing them enables UGG focus, non-core divestitures and a doubling to $135-158.

N4 V3 C3
Oasis Management 2017-10-30

Alpine Electronics 6816

Alps Electric is buying out 40%-owned Alpine Electronics via a biased share-exchange at too low a price; minority holders should reject it and demand a tender offer near 2,400 yen.

N2 V1 C1
Trian Partners 2017-09-21

The Procter & Gamble Company PG

P&G's rebuttal deck is riddled with 50+ data errors designed to discredit Peltz; the real issue is ongoing market-share losses and bottom-quartile TSR that only a board seat can fix.

N4 V3 C2
Trian Partners 2017-09-06

The Procter & Gamble Company PG

P&G's insular board and suffocating matrix have driven a decade of share loss; adding Nelson Peltz as one of 11 directors — Heinz/Mondelez/Wendy's tested — would revitalize the $65bn giant.

N4 V3 C3
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
Trian Partners 2017-09-01

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) ADP

ADP has delivered 203% TSR under CEO Rodriguez; Pershing Square owns just 2% of common stock and its nominees lack the HCM and technology experience to improve on this trajectory.

N4 V3 C3
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
Muddy Waters 2017-06-29

Prothena Corp PLC PRTA

Short PRTA: publicly-available NEOD001 data does not show efficacy — organ responses are likely driven by prior PCD chemo, not the drug, and $1.5B peak sales are unrealistic.

N4 V2 C2
Third Point 2017-06-25

Nestlé NESN

Nestlé's world-class brand portfolio masks decade-long underperformance; new CEO Schneider must adopt margin and leverage targets, reshape the portfolio, and monetize L'Oréal to drive EPS to CHF 5-6 by 2020.

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2017-06-16

Man Wah Holdings 1999.HK

Man Wah's response fails to address Muddy Waters' core fraud allegations: suspicious Macau profit-shifting, export revenue gaps vs. Panjiva data, tax inconsistencies, and undisclosed debt all remain unexplained.

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2017-06-05

Asanko Gold Inc. AKG

Asanko's reassurances on Nkran are 'puppies and rainbows': fresh drone images show wall failures, reserve accounting is non-compliant, and insider share counts don't reconcile with management's 'never sold' claim.

N4 V3 C3
Citron Research 2017-06-01

BlackBerry BBRY

QNX is entrenched in 60M cars across 40+ automakers — a leading autonomous-driving OS

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2017-05-31

Asanko Gold Inc. AKG

Muddy Waters is short AKG: flawed geology, a collapsing Nkran pit, and a 2018 liquidity crunch make the Ghana gold miner highly likely to end up a zero.

N4 V2 C2
Land & Buildings 2017-05-30

Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO

Taubman's best-in-class malls are worth ~$106/share (~70% upside), but the family's dual-class 30% voting block blocks reform — elect Litt and governance expert Elson.

N3 V2 C1
Elliott Management 2017-05-16

BHP Billiton BHP

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

N5 V4 C4
Pershing Square 2017-05-11

Herbalife HLF

Country-level 'pop-and-drop' patterns are the signature of a pyramid scheme reaching saturation

N4 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
Land & Buildings 2017-05-01

Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO

Taubman Centers has chronically underperformed Class A mall peers by 57% over five years under entrenched family governance; electing L&B's nominees can unlock 65% NAV upside.

N3 V2 C1
Pershing Square 2017-04-24

Pershing Square Portfolio (multiple positions)

Core longs (QSR, MDLZ, CMG, APD, HHC) are high-quality businesses in mid-transformation with untapped margin upside

N2 V3 C2
Carl Icahn 2017-04-20

Arconic Inc. ARNC

Arconic CEO Kleinfeld's veiled-extortion letter to Paul Singer forces his ouster; Elliott demands independent investigation, removal of complicit directors, and protection from whatever scheme Kleinfeld set in motion.

N4 V1 C1
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
Elliott Management 2017-04-10

BHP Billiton BHP

DLC structure traps US$9.7bn of franking credits and a 12.7% Plc/Ltd discount

N4 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2017-01-26

Portfolio-wide update (Mondelez, Air Products, Restaurant Brands, Chipotle, Howard Hughes, Fannie/Freddie, Valeant, Herbalife short, Platform Specialty, Nomad, CP, Zoetis)

Mondelez EBIT margin of 15.4% sits ~1,200bps below Kraft Heinz's 27.6% — a fixable gap

N3 V3 C2
Pershing Square 2017-01-26

Multiple (PSH portfolio update)

Long-term track record intact: 503% cumulative vs S&P 163% since 2004 inception

N3 V3 C3
Ancora 2017-01-24

Edgewater Technology, Inc. EDGW

Edgewater's entrenched legacy board has overpaid two underperforming executives for 14 years; replacing four directors with Ancora's slate unlocks a turnaround in this sub-scale IT consultant.

N4 V3 C2
Spruce Point Capital 2017-01-12

MGP Ingredients, Inc. MGPI

MGPI's whiskey-premiumization rerating is an illusion: Diageo is going in-house, inventory is stranded, and insiders are selling — shares should collapse 60-70% to $16-$21.

N4 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2016-12-19

China Huishan Dairy Holdings 6863.HK

Huishan's revenue is fabricated: tax-bureau data, cow-farm photos, and e-commerce scrapes all show the reported top line is dramatically overstated — the stock is a zero.

N4 V2 C2
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
Elliott Management 2016-11-28

Cognizant Technology Solutions CTSH

Cognizant has deliberately capped margins at 19-20% for 20 years while revenue grew 70x

N4 V3 C3
Elliott Management 2016-11-21

Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC

Marathon's integrated structure hides $14–19bn of value; dropping all MLP-qualifying assets to MPLX and spinning Speedway, refining, and midstream into three standalone companies would lift shares 60–80%+.

N4 V1 C1
Elliott Management 2016-11-01

Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC

Marathon is priced like a merchant refiner despite a 69% stable-earnings mix; dropping assets to MPLX and spinning Speedway, RefiningCo, and MidstreamCo unlocks $14-19bn (~60-80%+ upside).

N4 V4 C4
Land & Buildings 2016-10-26

Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO

Taubman's sudden reversal on Board size is reactive and disingenuous; any new director must be vetted by shareholders and be truly independent of the Taubman family.

N2 V2 C1
Land & Buildings 2016-10-06

MGM Resorts International MGM

MGM's discredited CEO Murren was just handed a pay-for-showing-up contract; replacing him and unlocking real-estate value via MGM China, CityCenter and Bellagio sales delivers 35%+ upside.

N3 V1 C1
Elliott Management 2016-10-05

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 005930.KS

Samsung Electronics trades at a 30-70% discount to peers on EV/EBITDA, P/E and P/B

N4 V4 C3
Starboard Value 2016-09-12

Perrigo Company plc PRGO

Perrigo lost half its value after rejecting Mylan's $205 bid; divesting Rx and Tysabri royalty, fixing BCH margins, and restoring credibility can re-rate the stock to consumer-staples peers.

N4 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2016-08-29

St. Jude Medical STJ

STJ's rebuttal to Muddy Waters' cybersecurity short report is 80% fluff and 20% substance, with admissions and deception cues that confirm its cardiac devices remain unsafe and need recall.

N4 V1 C1
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
Sandell 2016-08-22

Bob Evans Farms, Inc. BOBE

Bob Evans trades at $37 while its packaged-foods segment alone is worth $1.2-1.6bn; spinning off Restaurants leaves a pure-play BEF Foods parent worth $57-79 per share.

N4 V3 C2
Muddy Waters 2016-08-10

Ströer SE & Co. KGaA SAX

Muddy Waters publishes the translated transcript of Ströer's June 2016 AGM, where CEO Udo Müller defends the company against MW's short attack amid sharp shareholder questions.

N3 V1 C1
Pershing Square 2016-07-20

Herbalife HLF

FTC complaint confirms Herbalife operates as a pyramid scheme

N4 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2016-07-15

Herbalife Ltd. HLF

FTC findings satisfy the Koscot/Omnitrition/Vemma legal test for a pyramid scheme

N3 V2 C1
Marcato 2016-06-13

Buffalo Wild Wings BWLD

Buffalo Wild Wings should reverse course on low-return franchisee buy-ins, refranchise to 90% by 2020, recapitalize, and fix incentives — unlocking ~180% upside to ~$402.

N4 V4 C4
Muddy Waters 2016-04-28

Stroer SE & Co. KGaA SAX

Stroer's defense fails to rebut Muddy Waters' core allegations of overstated organic growth, misleading cash-flow netting and freeXmedia self-dealing, with a CIA polygrapher flagging Muller's response as deceptive.

N4 V1 C1
Pershing Square 2016-04-26

Multiple (portfolio-level LP update: MDLZ, APD, ZTS, QSR, CP, HHC, VRX, PAH, FNMA/FMCC, NOMD, HLF)

Mondelez margin gap to peers (13% vs 17-26%) implies +600-700bps of optimized EBIT upside

N3 V3 C3
Pershing Square 2016-04-26

Multiple (Pershing Square portfolio: MDLZ, APD, ZTS, QSR, CP, HHC, VRX, NOMD, HLF-short)

Mondelez EBIT margin of 13.1% is far below peers (Kraft Heinz 26.5%, Hershey 20.0%) and well short of 3G playbook results

N3 V3 C2
Pershing Square 2016-04-25

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. VRX

Joseph C. Papa appointed Chairman and CEO of Valeant

N1 V2 C1
Muddy Waters 2016-04-21

Ströer SE & Co. KGaA SAX

Ströer's digital-transformation narrative is hollow: organic growth is 10x overstated, EBITDA and FCF are inflated, and insider self-dealing rivals Chinese fraud cases — short.

N4 V2 C1
Starboard Value 2016-04-08

Depomed, Inc. DEPO

Depomed's board is entrenching itself via a California-to-Delaware reincorporation and rejected Horizon's premium bid; Starboard seeks a special meeting to replace directors and explore a sale.

N3 V2 C1