Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

"Yeah, whatever, this is an expensive piece of machine. What does it do? They haven't built anything new. It's built of flow cytometry and some optofluidics, which already exist, and they just married the two, and now they're claiming that they can do something fancy. — Takeda ex-lead scientist"

"“I am willing to take anything out of print that offends you” “You have 24 hours to make any change you want” — Laura Martin. “AOL will not hit the guidance...at least not without accounting gimmickry. I am willing to hold on with them in public but let's not lie to ourselves.” — Laura Martin."

"As of December 31, 2018, we had cash and cash equivalents of $172.7 million and short-term investments of $204.6 million... As a result of the enactment of the 2017 Tax Act, we currently plan to repatriate cash from our Bermuda subsidiary to fund our future expenditures in the U.S. — MPWR 10-K"

"The principal arguments against such structures are based on notions of shareholder democracy and protection of minority rights. Perhaps as a result, the number of publicly traded companies in Canada with a dual-class share structure has dropped from 100 in 2005 to 69 in 2018. — Mondaq Article"

"“Boost your online reputation with our premium Trustpilot review services. We provide both Verified Trustpilot Reviews ($10) and Non-Verified Trustpilot Reviews ($5). Perfect for businesses looking to increase credibility, attract more customers, and rank higher in search engines.” — Black_seo"

"We manufacture and assemble zero-emission electric and hybrid drivetrains and conversion kits from components supplied by third parties. For example, batteries, traction motors, power electronics, connectors, cables, and metal fabrication for battery storage boxes. — ADOMANI Offering Statement"

"The buyer was only described as “a very experienced and international real estate investor.” The purchase price was described as being “in the low three-digit million range.” And then “The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the purchase agreement.” — Assetando press release"

"Customers irate with Lasertec are “begging” KLA and “crying” for it to hurry its launch; KLA's entry will be “devastating,” “catastrophic,” and “game over” for Lasertec which “will disappear” – “everything could turn around in a second...they're out of business, basically.” — Anonymous sources"

"Comparable MOB-focused REITs show significantly more volatility in their quarterly SPNOI results than HTA. Investors should be asking how is this possible, and if so, why has HTA’s management chosen to operate its business in this manner, when no other company in the industry elects to do so."

"We believe directors sit on a board to represent the interests of shareholders. In our view, the corporate governance and nominating committee should heed the voice of shareholders and act to remove directors not supported by shareholders or correct the issues that raised shareholder concern."

"Starboard believes Mr. Riedel's direct involvement in the restructuring of Nortel, including the sale of the Nortel's patent portfolio for $4.5 billion, as well as his knowledge of the technology industry and leadership experience, will enable him to provide invaluable oversight to the Board."

"Based on the $250-$275 million revenue range and $1 billion estimated backlog, the business looks incredibly cheap at 0.55x revenues and 0.15x backlog which leads us to question the quality of the deal especially in light of an industry source referencing “past due invoices” from contractors."

"In the end, it is admittedly difficult to propose a deal that satisfies both the shareholders of the target company and those of the buyer and it is equally difficult to propose a deal that will displease them all: Glencore's Board of directors seems to have succeeded in this remarkable task."

"Land and Buildings sees 70% upside to a base case net asset value of $33 per share, and up to 180% upside in a bull case, that can be realized through a REIT conversion, a tax free spin-off of a lodging C-corp, and a reduction of leverage through asset sales and an MGM China special dividend."

"Today I’m going to describe a similar situation with certain energy companies. These companies have negative development economics, meaning that aside from a few choice locations, they don’t earn a positive return on capital, but have a nearly infinite supply of negative return opportunities."

"Align bulls generally do not consider in-house 3D printing a serious threat to the Company. However, Spruce Point finds that historical limitations to in-house 3D printing have little to do with doctor preference, brand loyalty, or cost savings limitations, as is believed by most Align bulls."

"Arconic originally projected that Firth Rixson would do $2 billion of revenue in 2019. At the same margins as originally projected for 2016 (i.e., conservatively assuming no incremental volume leverage), Firth Rixson will produce approximately 50% less EBITDA than originally targeted for 2019"

"According to BlackRock, it is in the best interest of their clients (and the market) to have one Board seat instead of three, in a Board composed of seventeen directors, sixteen of which appointed by a controlling shareholder via multiple voting shares (1:10) with only a 10% economic interest"

"We are working with these director candidates, along with a group of advisors and one of the leading operationally-focused consulting firms, to develop a turnaround plan for Darden that will put performance on par with well-performing competitors and create substantial value for shareholders."

"PT ALH seems to be a premeditated chain of sham transactions that not only unjustifiably pumped up net income by $46.4 million (and possibly EBITDA the next year), but requires investors to believe that in order to facilitate the transactions, Noble’s attorneys went out of pocket $12 million."

"WD-40’s share price defies logic and trades at an extreme valuation. Post the last financial crisis in 2018, management has directed ~62% of total free cash flow into repurchasing shares at increasingly inflated prices, while it methodically reduces its stake in the Company to almost nothing."

"We believe the proposed transaction will not close the Company's substantial discount to net asset value ("NAV") and is a thinly veiled attempt by management and the Board to rid themselves of a decades-long poor track record rather than address the fundamental issues challenging the Company."

"We are writing to you today because we believe the Company has a great deal of potential that is unfortunately not being realized. This is due to Upwork’s lack of strategic clarity and focus, ineffective execution, poor capital allocation, and revolving management team under CEO Hayden Brown."

"According to BlackRock, it is in the best interest of their clients (and the market) to have one Board seat instead of three, in a Board composed of seventeen directors, sixteen of which appointed by a controlling shareholder via multiple voting shares (1:10) with only a 10% economic interest"

"To create the most value from a “Land-only” REIT spin-off, a retailer must meet certain criteria including very high land ownership, predominantly U.S.-based real estate and retail sales, strong square footage growth in the U.S., and low valuation multiples. Target meets ALL of these criteria"

"In addition to cherry-picking and bias from lack of blinding, some of the most troubling allegations about the conduct of the trial came from former executives of Nevro, who described Nevro’s approach to studies at “highly unethical” and suggested Nevro’s skill at manipulating study patients."

"AST is an ambitious, wildly risky science project that has no business (literally) being public - only the SPAC bubble of 2021 could have managed to change its destiny from being a forgotten zero tucked away in a few venture capital funds into what is rapidly becoming a classic stock promote."

"We urge you to change direction and do the right thing for shareholders. As we have expressed to you, we expect the shareholders’ interest to remain of paramount importance and will look to make significant changes to the Board if you continue to make decisions that destroy shareholder value."

"After a national search for a new director, the experience and expertise that Dave will bring to the Essential board is clear. He will be an excellent representative of the shareholders in guiding the company, particularly in matters of growth and branding. — Essential Utilities Press Release"

"“But Telecom Italia’s problems are also self-inflicted. Barely concealed battles between Chief Executive Amos Genish, who was appointed by Vivendi, and the Elliott-appointed board over strategy are likely alienating other investors.” — Stephen Wilmot, The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2018"

""On a $10,000 invoice they'll take a $4,000 to $5,000 deduction with no justification, an it takes us months to collect the money back," the vendor said. "When it comes to deductions, they're off the scale compared with other customers." — Unnamed vendor quoted in Wall Street Journal article."

"“I am excited to apply my previous experiences turning around underperforming companies to Hess. The prospect of working with management to transform Hess into a highly motivated organization that consistently delivers top quartile results is an opportunity I could never pass up.” — Karl Kurz"

"In what we perceive to be poor excuses for nonperformance, McDonald’s has blamed “industry-wide challenges for farmers and producers, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and global swine disease outbreaks” for its failure to make good on its commitment to end gestation crate use — Icahn Enterprises"

"We are in telecoms but it is complementary to content...We don’t want to be an operator. We don’t want, industrially speaking, to manage a telecoms company. We manage content...We don’t manage Telecom Italia and we will never manage it. — Vincent Bolloré, Financial Times article, June 2, 2016"

"“Nelson was quick to recognize that removing Snapple from a bureaucratic Quaker Oats culture would enable entrepreneurialism and innovation. The result was a dramatic sales turnaround and more than quadrupling of company value in just 3 years.” — Mike Weinstein (CEO of Snapple from 1997-2000)"

"Our blue-chip customer base includes many of the largest global brands. We serve over 1,000 customers that are diversified across all major industry verticals, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, telecommunications, technology, automotive and healthcare. — DoubleVerify 10-K"

"limiting director tenure allows new directors to the board to bring fresh perspectives. A tenure of more than nine years is considered to potentially compromise a director's independence and as such QuickScore will consider tenure > 9 years excessive. — Institutional Shareholder Services Inc."

"「そもそも極端紫外線マスク検査の責任者は、レーザーテック製の装置の導入を勧めた人間の一人でした。1台につき5000万ドルという高額の装置だから、大金の投資でした。こうした装置がきちんと動いていなかったことが、彼にとって大きなストレスになった。それが会議への出席禁止につながったわけです。彼としては稼働率を85%〜90%に近づけたいと思っていましたが、現実は60%〜65%に留まっていることに納得できなかったのです。彼は稼働率を向上させるようにプレッシャーをかけましたが、限界がありました」 — インテルのマスク工場を現場で担当していた、レーザーテックの元フィールド・サービス・エンジニア"

"“THAN JUST ONE PERSON MAKING 100 STEPS FORWARD. LET’S BE UNITED, WORK HARD, AND TURN THIS COMPANY AROUND!! WE DO NOT NEED ANY GENIUS. 100 PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE ONE STEP FORWARD IS MORE IMPORTANT ... I WILL RESTRUCTURE THIS COMPANY AT MY FULL RESPONSIBILITY.” — Nagamori-san (via company comic)"

"Management stated that it only enters an international market if its meets the criteria of “tradition of rule of law in that country, the track record of judicial independence and respect for property rights, specifically with regard to existing foreign investors.” — American Tower Management"

"“We have found that the consumables revenues increase when a customer upgrades from a VetTest analyzer to a Catalyst analyzer due to the superior test menu capability, flexibility, and ease of use of the Catalyst analyzers, which leads to additional testing by the customer.” — IDEXX 2020 10-K"

"At launch in 2021, Element AIM will be the world's first and only analyzer designed specifically for veterinary medicine to do both fecal and urine imaging in a fully automated manner that is supported by AI for the best user accuracy and efficiency — CEO Wilson at Investor Day, November 2020"

"“Organic growth” Refers to growth achieved by internal investments of the firm. This could be the day-to-day business of the firm or a division of the firm starting a new business from scratch. This is distinguished from growth by acquisition or merger which involves an outside firm. — Nasdaq"

""I think your last question was on how we see 2016, I think I answered already what we expect to get. The message I can add to what I already said is we do not anticipate for 2016 a higher contribution of real estate development projects than in 2015." — Antoine Giscard d'Estaing - Casino CFO"

"“We’re using it for organs who pretty much challenged...if you’ve had a lot of people say no...because that donor is not ‘standard’....very old, over 70 or 65...some problems...like a fatty liver.” — Transplant surgeon and transplant program director at a major academic center in Pennsylvania"

"ISS continues to have concerns with the Compensation Committee's decision to approve bonus payments at 110 percent of target when the company failed to achieve the minimum performance goals for operating income before depreciation and amortization and free cash flow. — RiskMetrics Group (ISS)"

"Leidos has been losing market share to Smiths Detection in the U.S. baggage detection market for some time. In checked baggage Smiths has about 60%, and L3Harris/Leidos about 40%. The TSA has been buying more from Smiths and L3Harris/Leidos market share has been coming down. — Industry Expert"

"“百年意大利品牌 FILA 为直营品牌，无加盟代理政策。” “The 100-year old Italian Fila brand is a self-operated brand. We have a no franchise store policy.” — Fila customer service recording. “We have no plan for Fila to engage in wholesale... We will continue to operate Fila’s self-operated model.” — CFO Lai Shixian."

"“non-informative biomarker...to diagnose...etiologies of central hypersomnia” and that “from a clinical point of view” histamine levels are “not informative tools to differentiate etiologies of central hypersomnia or to assess the severity of centrally mediated hypersomnia.” — Bioprojet paper"

"As Goosehead’s largest shareholder and the person with the most to lose if we get things wrong and as someone with an intimate understanding of Goosehead's needs, I'm highly confident that moves we're making are the right ones to drive long-term shareholder value. — CEO, Q3 2022 earnings call"

"Investigations of the process have highlighted that an initial award appears to be competitive in name only, while Congress itself declares all subsequent awards resulting from backdoor earmarks for the same company do not need to be competitively bid. — Roll Call / Taxpayers for Common Sense"

"Spruce Point finds it incredibly suspicious that Off Grid's sister company and customer subsequently impaired assets in an amount similar to the receivables it was owed. Like Off Grid, Hybrid Power was subsequently sold shortly after the earnout period of March 31, 2022 disclosed by Generac."

"Based on Peng's employment at the consolidated Sprandi subsidiaries of the ListCo, his sale of similarly named entities to ANTA, and his role in ANTA Capital, where he led an ANTA delegation to scout our new factory locations, Henan Ruili appears to be a captive, not an independent supplier."

"After missing consensus EPS for 6 straight quarters, a string of exploration failures, and substantial capex overruns, John Hess announces that the Company is in midst of transformation that started in 2009 (later revised to 2010 start). This is company's 7th restructuring under current CEO."

"The CLO servicing report for the three CLOs show a total of $1.9 billion of loans that are on the "watchlist" at "6A", which means "Any Other Situation that Indicates an Increased Level of Default Risk that may Create Potential Material Losses to Investors (Lesser of 10% of UPB or $500,000)""

"Maxar exhibits nearly identical problems and aggressive accounting tactics we identified at NCR Corp in our report from 2015, a stock that collapsed 40% to $18 per share months after our report when it failed to find any strategic alternatives except heavy dilution and expenses to investors."

"Two recently introduced technologies are set to enhance the safety and efficacy of catheter ablation so dramatically, they will almost certainly destroy any remaining rationale for minimally invasive surgical ablation of the kind that AtriCure has incessantly tried - and failed - to promote."

"We sent a private investigator to the Oregon facility, who encountered a deserted parking lot, a quiet loading dock/construction area, and about a dozen office employees sitting in an open and mostly empty floorplan – no evidence of manufacturing activity or an impending production scale-up."

"Once we have beginning and ending balances of imported inventory (i.e., ELF’s products for sale in the U.S.) and their COGS – all based on reported financials, we can deduce the dollar value of imports baked into ELF’s reported financials (Imports = Ending Balance - Beginning Balance + COGS)"

"We find that the medical groups listed as subject to the "Medical Groups Notice of Privacy Practices" last updated December 22, 2022 include four former Bailey Health entities that have been dissolved and another entity (You Health Purdy of Nevada) that never existed according to our search."