Contrarian Corpus

92 documents showing 1–60

Elliott Management 2025-05-01

Phillips 66 PSX

Phillips 66's dilutive midstream pivot has destroyed TSR versus refining peers; a midstream spin and refreshed governance — as at Marathon and Suncor — can unlock the buried value.

N4 V4 C4
Elliott Management 2025-03-06

Phillips 66 PSX

Phillips 66's refining kit rivals Valero's, but weak commercial execution and bloated corporate leave a multi-dollar EBITDA-per-barrel gap that Streamline66 — portfolio fixes and a refreshed board — closes.

N4 V4 C4
Starboard Value 2024-10-01

Pfizer Inc. PFE

Pfizer destroyed $20-60bn of value since 2019 despite a $40bn COVID windfall; Starboard wants the board to hold Bourla accountable for peer-median R&D/M&A returns.

N5 V4 C4
Starboard Value 2024-10-01

Pfizer Inc. PFE

Pfizer squandered its $40bn COVID windfall on overpriced M&A while delivering almost none of the 15 promised blockbusters; the Board must hold management accountable.

N5 V4 C4
Engine Capital 2024-09-13

Upwork Inc. UPWK

Engine argues Upwork is undervalued at ~6.5x EBITDA and that a refreshed board plus fixing the marketplace, focusing Enterprise, cutting bloat and aggressive buybacks unlocks substantial upside.

N4 V2 C1
Starboard Value 2024-08-06

Autodesk, Inc. ADSK

Autodesk's premier 93%-gross-margin software franchise is squandered under CEO Anagnost; Starboard demands cost cuts, compensation overhaul, buybacks and CEO re-evaluation to reach 45%+ margins and ~$15.50 FCF/share by FY2027.

N4 V3 C3
Carl Icahn 2024-06-10

Southwest Airlines LUV

Southwest has the worst margins of any major U.S. airline under a 74-year legacy leadership team; a new outside CEO, refreshed board and modernized commercial strategy can deliver a $49 share price, 77% upside.

N5 V4 C4
Muddy Waters 2024-05-29

CPI Property Group S.A. CPIPGR

CPI Property Group's luxury London transactions — same-day flips, offshore proxies, and uneconomic sales to PEPs — bear hallmarks of money laundering integration using bondholder funds.

N4 V3 C3
Trian Partners 2024-03-01

The Walt Disney Company DIS

Disney's decade of underperformance stems from a board lacking focus and accountability; electing Peltz and Rasulo brings ownership mentality to fix succession, streaming economics and capital allocation.

N5 V4 C4
Trian Partners 2024-03-01

The Walt Disney Company DIS

Disney's decade of underperformance stems from a passive Board; Trian's nominees Peltz and Rasulo will fix CEO succession, right-size legacy media, and drive DTC to Netflix-like 15-20% margins by 2027.

N5 V4 C4
Trian Partners 2024-02-01

The Walt Disney Company DIS

Disney squandered a winning hand through a weak, unfocused Board; electing Peltz and Rasulo brings the shareholder mindset needed to reverse years of TSR underperformance.

N3 V3 C3
Engine Capital 2023-04-20

Parkland Corporation PKI

Parkland's board re-nominated its 24-year chairman and set sub-cost-of-capital ROIC targets; Engine urges shareholders to WITHHOLD on all incumbents to force governance, pay, and portfolio reform.

N3 V1 C1
Trian Partners 2023-01-12

The Walt Disney Company DIS

Disney's world-class IP is being squandered by a board that overpaid $52bn for Fox, bungled CEO succession, and is bleeding streaming losses — add Nelson Peltz to restore discipline.

N4 V3 C3
Trian Partners 2023-01-11

The Walt Disney Company DIS

Disney is in a self-inflicted crisis of governance, strategy and capital allocation; electing Nelson Peltz to the board will restore discipline, profitability and the dividend by FY 2025.

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2022-12-14

Vivion Investments S.à.r.l.

Vivion's €1.44bn bond issuer is a multi-billion euro shell game — fabricated shareholder loans, inflated occupancy and fair value gains, and related-party rents enriching controlling shareholder Amir Dayan.

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2022-08-03

Sunrun RUN

Muddy Waters rebuts Sunrun's response: the 90% PPA-renewal assumption on 20-year-old panels is fantasy, the $668M panel-removal liability is real, and RUN hides its tax basis.

N3 V1 C1
Muddy Waters 2022-07-28

Sunrun Inc. RUN

Sunrun's equity story rests on three shaky pillars — inflated subscriber values, abusive IRS tax-basis gaming, and fragile ABS — that together imply an 85% haircut to Net Earning Assets.

N4 V2 C2
Sachem Head 2022-04-26

US Foods Holding Corp. USFD

Sachem Head owns 8.7% of US Foods and is running a proxy fight to install five directors who can close the Sysco margin gap and deliver ~100% upside.

N4 V3 C3
Starboard Value 2022-03-08

Huntsman Corporation HUN

Huntsman failed all 2016 and 2018 Investor Day EBITDA and share-price promises

N4 V4 C3
Starboard Value 2022-02-28

Huntsman Corporation HUN

Huntsman returned just 80% since its 2005 IPO vs. 642-822% for peers, a ~562% deficit under CEO Peter Huntsman

N5 V4 C4
Starboard Value 2022-02-10

Huntsman Corporation HUN

Huntsman has underperformed peers by 575% since IPO and missed three straight Investor Day targets; elect four Starboard nominees on the BLUE card to restore board accountability.

N3 V2 C2
Starboard Value 2022-01-12

Huntsman Corporation HUN

A decade of missed EBITDA targets: 2014, 2016 and 2018 Investor Day aspirations all unmet

N4 V2 C2
Starboard Value 2022-01-12

Huntsman Corporation HUN

Three consecutive Investor Days (2014, 2016, 2018) missed EBITDA targets by hundreds of millions

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2021-09-15

Danimer Scientific DNMR

DNMR is a post-SPAC bioplastics story whose 'sold-out' demand, $200M take-or-pay contracts, and $1 trillion TAM are misrepresentations — actual utilization is ~28% and Novomer is a Hail Mary.

N4 V2 C1
Muddy Waters 2020-11-18

Joyy Inc. YY

JOYY is a multibillion-dollar fraud: ~90% of YY Live and ~80% of Bigo revenue is fabricated via bots and gift roundtripping, and Baidu's pending $3.6bn acquisition is buying air.

N5 V2 C2
Citron Research 2020-11-13

NIO Inc. NIO

NIO trades at 17-18x NTM EV/Sales — double Tesla's multiple — as a Made-in-China Model Y near $41K threatens the ES6/EC6; Citron closes its 2018 long at a $25 price target.

N3 V2 C1
Muddy Waters 2020-11-11

MultiPlan Corp MPLN

MultiPlan is a financially-engineered SPAC corpse losing its biggest customer UHC to UHC's own competitor Naviguard; expect 35% revenue loss and 8x+ leverage by 2022.

N4 V2 C2
Land & Buildings 2020-05-06

Empire State Realty Trust ESRT

Empire State Realty Trust is uniquely exposed to NYC's 'existential hurricane' — COVID, WFH, SALT cap, and WeWork's collapse crush demand while observation-deck revenue vanishes, driving shares substantially lower.

N3 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2020-04-08

eHealth Inc. EHTH

eHealth books three years of Medicare Advantage commissions upfront while true churn has spiked to 47%; corrected, every MA enrollee loses $135-$402 — a cash-incinerating stock promotion.

N5 V2 C2
Citron Research 2019-12-10

Peloton Interactive PTON

Peloton trades at 2,286% above peers on EV per subscriber; once a cannibalizing app, undifferentiated hardware, and a March lockup wave hit, the stock collapses to $5.

N4 V2 C2
TCI Fund 2019-11-30

Ferrovial FER

TCI, a ~1% shareholder, commends Ferrovial's CDP 'A' grade but presses for stronger SBTI-aligned targets, RE100 membership, and leadership in de-carbonising aviation and road transport.

N2 V2 C1
TCI Fund 2019-11-30

S&P Global SPGI

TCI, a ~1% holder, urges S&P Global to lead on climate disclosure: report fully to CDP, adopt a Paris-aligned transition plan, and push mandatory GHG disclosure across the companies it rates.

N3 V2 C1
TCI Fund 2019-11-30

Canadian Pacific Railway CP

TCI, owner of ~8% of Canadian Pacific, demands the railroad close its CDP climate-disclosure gap versus peers CN and UNP and adopt a credible science-based transition plan.

N3 V2 C1
TCI Fund 2019-11-30

Airbus AIR

TCI, a 1.5% Airbus shareholder since 2012, demands stronger climate disclosure, an A-grade CDP score, and Airbus leadership in mandating low-carbon synthetic aviation fuels — or TCI will vote against directors.

N2 V1 C1
TCI Fund 2019-11-30

Alphabet Inc. GOOGL

TCI, a 0.6% Alphabet holder, commends Alphabet's A-grade CDP disclosure and codifies its stewardship stance: full CDP reporting, Paris-aligned transition plans, or votes against directors and auditors.

N2 V2 C1
Muddy Waters 2019-07-22

ANTA Sports Products 2020.HK

ANTA's largest 'third-party' supplier and its 'self-operated' online stores are secretly controlled by an ANTA employee, so reported margins and Fila's numbers cannot be trusted.

N4 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2019-07-15

ANTA Sports Products 2020.HK

Muddy Waters Part 4 rebuts ANTA's responses — management has lied about owning all Fila stores, the Shanghai Fengxian disposal, and distributor independence, confirming the underlying fraud.

N4 V1 C1
Oasis Management 2019-06-06

N/A (Japanese M&A regulatory guidelines; Alps Alpine cited as precedent)

Dealreporter coverage of Japan's new METI M&A guidelines that strengthen special committees and independent directors in MBOs, with Oasis Management endorsing the reforms as minority-shareholder protection.

N2 V1 C1
Starboard Value 2019-03-18

Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY

BMY is overpaying ~$30B for Celgene's risky pipeline, betting on 10 blockbusters in 8 years vs 3 in 15; shareholders should vote against and unlock 900bps of standalone margin upside.

N5 V3 C3
Starboard Value 2019-03-01

Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY

BMY's $91B Celgene deal bets the company on a REVLIMID patent cliff and pipeline requiring 10 blockbusters in 8 years — shareholders should vote no and pursue a standalone Amgen-style transformation.

N5 V3 C3
Elliott Management 2019-03-01

Telecom Italia TIT.MI

Vivendi's control of TIM destroyed 54% of shareholder value

N5 V5 C5
Starboard Value 2019-02-22

Magellan Health, Inc. MGLN

Magellan destroyed $700M of value through failed acquisitions and three 2018 guidance cuts; Starboard's six-director slate will overhaul the board and run a parallel sale process at peer multiples.

N4 V2 C2
Pershing Square 2019-02-13

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (annual portfolio update; covers CMG, ADP, QSR, LOW, SBUX, HLT, UTX, HHC, FNMA/FMCC) PSH

PSH trades at 27% discount to NAV despite 13.8% net CAGR since 2004 vs 8.4% for S&P 500

N3 V3 C2
Muddy Waters 2019-02-08

Inogen, Inc. INGN

Inogen's growth story rests on a fabricated TAM sourced from a plagiarism-riddled WinterGreen report; real market is shrinking, peak sales arrive 2019-2020, target $46 (-67%).

N5 V2 C2
Starboard Value 2019-01-07

Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR

Dollar Tree is deeply undervalued because Family Dollar is a failed acquisition and the $1 price ceiling is a self-imposed cap; selling Family Dollar and testing multi-price points unlocks $150/share.

N4 V2 C2
Elliott Management 2019-01-07

QEP Resources, Inc. QEP

QEP's core-of-the-core Permian assets are stranded in a broken public-company wrapper; Elliott offers $8.75/share cash — a 44% premium — to deliver certain value through sale.

N3 V1 C1
Starboard Value 2018-12-10

Cars.com Inc. CARS

Starboard, a ~10% holder, warns Cars.com's board that serial guide-downs must end with credible 2019-2021 targets, a third independent director, and — absent improvement — management change or a sale.

N4 V2 C2
Carl Icahn 2018-11-15

Dell Technologies (Class V / DVMT tracking stock) DVMT

Dell's $109 buyout of the DVMT tracker is really $90 — a 42% discount engineered to transfer $11bn from public holders to Michael Dell and Silver Lake. Vote no.

N4 V3 C3
Citron Research 2018-10-23

Tesla, Inc. TSLA

After five years short, Citron reverses on Tesla: Model 3 is dominating luxury and EV segments, Munro confirms 30% margins, and worst-case math yields $599/share.

N4 V2 C2
Pershing Square 2018-10-09

Starbucks SBUX

Dominant global coffee brand trading at 22x forward P/E vs. 26x historical average

N4 V3 C3
Muddy Waters 2018-10-04

Manulife Financial Corporation MFC

Muddy Waters is short Manulife because a Saskatchewan verdict due by year-end could force MFC to accept unlimited deposits at a guaranteed 4%+ rate — an unhedgeable bleed its own expert admits could cause insolvency.

N4 V2 C2
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
Citron Research 2018-08-28

Wayfair W

Wayfair's unit economics are deteriorating — loss per new customer nearly doubled to $19 — while the stock defies gravity; Citron is re-shorting with a first stop at $100.

N3 V2 C2
Muddy Waters 2018-07-25

TAL Education Group TAL

TAL Education's core Peiyou business is shrinking, not 'healthy' as CFO Rong Luo claims; under every reasonable model TAL's FY2018 Q3-Q4 disclosures fail to reconcile.

N4 V1 C1
Muddy Waters 2018-07-23

TAL Education Group TAL

TAL's own Peiyou Q3 disclosures, common-sized, mathematically imply offline enrollment declined YoY — contradicting the growth narrative and signaling fabricated results.

N4 V2 C2
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
Carl Icahn 2018-05-24

SandRidge Energy SD

SandRidge trades at a ~45% discount to its own PV-10 because the post-bankruptcy 'bankruptcy board' destroys value via dilutive deals; replace it with Icahn's slate to run a real sale process.

N4 V3 C3
Land & Buildings 2018-05-10

Taubman Centers, Inc. TCO

Taubman's persistent peer underperformance stems from a family-entrenched board and dual-class structure; electing Litt and collapsing Series B shares unlocks value common shareholders have been denied.

N4 V3 C3
Elliott Management 2018-05-07

athenahealth, Inc. ATHN

Elliott offers $160/share cash for athenahealth — a 27% premium valuing the company at ~$6.9bn — arguing chronic execution failures make going private the only path to realizing its HCIT potential.

N4 V2 C1
Elliott Management 2018-04-24

Telecom Italia (TIM) TIT.MI

Vivendi holds only 18% economic stake yet controls TIM to its own benefit

N4 V4 C4