Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

""their factory floor for finished goods is full.. a substantial amount of finished goods inventory that’s either not passing [evaluation]" or "customers have deferred shipment"; "literally no space left on their final inspection bays before the equipment ships." — Global Foundries executive"

"We report our financial results as one operating segment. Our consolidated operating results are regularly reviewed by our chief operating decision maker, principally to make decisions about how we allocate our resources and to measure our consolidated operating performance. — Magnite, Inc."

"“How many of you would like to make at least a million dollars a year in income?”; “Be your own boss.”; “The opportunity to earn more than you ever thought possible and make your dreams come true!”; “We went from bankruptcy to being set for life!” — Herbalife Distributor Marketing Materials"

"Nevro claims that the SENZA-RCT data showed ongoing, dramatic back and leg pain reduction at longer intervals of 12 and 24 months versus traditional low-frequency stimulators. A Nevro press release touted the paper's selection by the journal Neurosurgery as its “Top Pain Paper of the Year.”"

"When do you think the FlightWave factor will be up and running? That's a good question. So we are just starting to move in now. We just signed a lease. We hope to have more of a start-up style factory in about 3 or 4 weeks where basically, they're — Thompson (CEO) on December earnings call."

"“people are now saying, are you guys facing the same issues? Am I the only one who’s constantly getting these bombardments of issues left and right without even being notified of these recurring issues or device failures?” — Veteran transplant administrator at Massachusetts General Hospital"

"“the laser source is unstable for the X8, X9 ULTRA”; “it has a lot of software bugs”; “bug is always causing random problems...they cannot find critical defects, or the resolution is very bad...the image processing is very bad.” — Former Lasertec field service engineer at TSMC fab in Taiwan"

"“I have not heard of any A300s actually shipping. I'll just say, through colleagues who have visited, that there are systems on the floor that customers are doing evaluations on, but I don't know of any that have actually shipped to a customer site.” — Longtime executive at Global Foundries"

""TSMC will not consider the A300 or A150 for production. They will only exist in the EPO mask house... TSMC has already purchased six sets of A150. So, they already bought six tools. Six A150 tools. But last year, they also purchased the first A300." — Longtime ex-TSMC procurement executive"

"This offering could compete with many of the Fast Casual concepts that have taken share at lunch – in the same amount of time, guests can have Olive Garden’s great food, but in a comfortable full-service setting, rather than waiting on long lines only to bring the food back to their desks."

"The substantial $35.8 million gap between these positive contributors and the minimal increase in overall guidance strongly indicates that Tempus's fundamental genomics and data segments are significantly underperforming compared to expectations established just months earlier in February."

"This offering could compete with many of the Fast Casual concepts that have taken share at lunch – in the same amount of time, guests can have Olive Garden’s great food, but in a comfortable full-service setting, rather than waiting on long lines only to bring the food back to their desks."

"As evidence of Xylem’s failures in Digital, we point out that it quietly covered up reassignment of executive Al Cho who was formerly the Chief Strategy & Digital Officer. In late 2022, CEO Decker claimed Sai Allavarpu would be its first Chief Digital Officer, but that clearly is not true."

"Again, while generously assuming no lost reserves, and now allowing for the company to respond to lower prices with 20% cuts in its key cost areas such as rig day rates, horsepower for fracking, and raw materials, we estimate Pioneer's existing reserves to be worth less than $22 per share."

"If all of Premier's member owner hospitals were to demand and receive a market-rate shareback beginning in FY22 – the earliest point at which their current terms could be amended – consensus sales estimates for FY22-23 would fall by 26%, and EBITDA estimates would be cut by more than half."

"Quarterly analysis highlights the growing deviation between COGS and inventory and the historically low level of accounts payable / inventory. Moreover, an analysis of sequential and YoY changes in inventory in Q1 2022 versus past Q1 levels shows a sharp departure from historical averages."

"Zebra referenced the word "semiconductor" only once in the deal announcement of Matrox. At a conference shortly after, CFO Winters said Matrox had "great relationships" with the semiconductor industry. Neither statement quantified what the semiconductor industry means to Matrox's business."

"Share price underperformance has occurred despite no significant change in the operational outlook for ArborGen or Tenon leading us to believe that the primary cause for the underperformance was the mis-management of both the ArborGen IPO and shareholder expectations with respect to Tenon."

"The table below showing Casino's market share versus its "Real" EBITDA (i.e., excluding our estimate of gains on sale in 2014 and 2015) strongly casts doubt on the notion that there's any relationship between Casino's present market share and EBITDA generated by selling products in stores."

"When we adjust Samsara's Adj. EBITDA calculation for incremental device cost and sales commission amortization, we estimate it to be overstated by $134 million in the past two fiscal years and that FY2023 adjusted EBITDA margin stands at -22% as opposed to the -10% reported by the Company."

"Spruce Point has concerns about financial relationships and flows of payments between C3, its CEO's foundation, two directors and its sales partners. Spruce Point asks C3 to clarify the nature of the relationships and economic value proposition to C3 shareholders with enhanced disclosures."

"Job advertisements for Beijing Mushang reference a different address than the legal entity. Our investigators visited this address and were surprised to find an unmarked door in a high end residential building welcoming “home delivery, just walk in”. Is this what a top 5 agency looks like?"

"We do not purport to know the reasoning behind consolidating these companies, and the timing of these transactions. We do find the inconsistency in Nidec's discussion of the rationales for these transactions a little troubling, particularly given Mr. Nagamori's financial interests in them."

"While Ginkgo claims that its related-party “customers” are arms-length vendor-customer relationships, former employees as well as current staff at these entities indicated the exact opposite: extensive “overlap and intermingling”; “a close association”; “specifically propped up” by Ginkgo."

"An ex-Ginkgo executive stated that half of their projects fail at the front end and the other half at fermentation/scale-up, given Ginkgo’s inability achieve any cost metrics: “over-promised and under-delivered”; stated Zymergen “imploded” for a similar inability to manufacture their film."

"We believe that the ability of the trust to sell stock in a short time frame after being contributed is a red flag, particularly in context of Aerojet’s audit chair resigning, its COO entering into a retention agreement, and IRS and California tax audits being disclosed shortly thereafter."

"Recruiting family members, friends, work and church acquaintances and others in their communities into a rigged game, one that is highly likely to exact financial and emotional harm on those loved and trusted by them, has an impact that cannot be repaired or recompensed with dollars alone."

"Mr. Terino’s depth of experience serving as CEO, CFO, COO, and a director of public and private companies in the technology and eCommerce industries, together with his substantial expertise in finance, restructuring, and corporate governance, makes him well qualified to serve on the Board."

"The claims for machine perfusion become increasingly preposterous: “we can convert different blood types to an O blood type...we can actually make changes in the genetic makeup of the donor organ...we can add genes...silence genes...those foreign proteins that were the cause of rejection.”"

"In order to make this claim, the Company is relying on two rather questionable addbacks. First, the Company is adding back multiple years of cumulative foreign exchange (“FX”) impacts and, second, the Company is adding back the impact from the ongoing transition to a new transaction model."

"Based on the temporal association between event onset and the start of WAKIX, and as the primary inciting events of anxiety and depression are labeled, the subsequent mental health issues and associated dyspnea are assessed as possibly related to WAKIX, which was ongoing as of last report."

"Recruiting family members, friends, work and church acquaintances and others in their communities into a rigged game, one that is highly likely to exact financial and emotional harm on those loved and trusted by them, has an impact that cannot be repaired or recompensed with dollars alone."

"the best approach for the Company and its stakeholders is the immediate exploration of a sale, which, as explained below, would create significant upside for shareholders while creating a more stable footing for all those with a vested interest in Alexion's future – including its patients."

"The expert elaborated that the EUV source “is terrible” and “creates a mess” given its use of discharge electrodes - similar to car spark plugs - and propellors splashing in molten tin, in contrast to ASML’s superior laser-based solution as well as the xenon-based source KLA is developing."

""Payday loans are predatory traps for the many West Virginians facing difficult times," McGraw said. "We will continue to ask the courts to intervene whenever companies refuse to cooperate with our efforts to protect West Virginia citizens." — Darrell McGraw, West Virginia Attorney General"

"“As we look specifically at the first quarter, our results were again very consistent and dependable. A 6% increase in FFO per share to $0.37; 3% same-store NOI growth, the 10th consecutive quarter of growth at 3% or higher” —Chairman, CEO, and President, Scott Peters (1Q15 Earnings Call)."

""We're going to decentralize decision-making ... having an operator-centric culture, where we would push down decision-making into the organization further, trying to unlock some of the entrepreneurial spirit of the people that we have." — Bill Oplinger, CFO, Alcoa Corp., November 16, 2016"

"“...we’re adjusting our executional model against the dynamic of this mainstreaming of online education in a way that meets this new market dynamic. Competition for students has increased. Programs will be slightly smaller than they were in the past.” — TWOU CEO, July 2019 Q2 Earnings Call"

"On the sales side, I want to talk about sales and talk about our leasing activity and our leasing spread... The moods of the retailers, and you've heard this on the other conference calls with our peers, is improving dramatically. — Art Coppola, Chairman & CEO of Macerich, November 5, 2009"

"I would have to go through at least five layers [at Bristol-Myers], whereas I would have to go through three layers at a different company to do the same thing. This would result in the same process taking 4-6 months at Bristol versus 1-2 months at [peers]. — Former Bristol-Myers Executive"

"Due to the competition for high-quality content between video platforms, there is also a clear gap for the pricing of the episodes’ copyrights between the TV station and online network-end. The price of some episodes on the online networks is more than twice that on the TV side. — 36kr.com"

"“...parallel inspections of the same masks...just to make sure there are no defects.” — Japanese semiconductor executive. “TSMC was the first one to adopt the Holon tool...Samsung, Intel, and most of the other customers in the EUV space are also adopting the Holon tool.” — Industry expert."

"Freewheel is the most dominant in my opinion. I view Magnite as challenger, chases deals that are less favorable. Magnite has to convince market they are not a "me too" product. They have to discount to get scale and adoption. Their take rate is less than some. — Anonymous Magnite Customer"

"A lot of his EBITDA, especially on the aggregate side is johnny come lately. A lot of these plants he put up are pretty new. Not a lot of history there. I think it is a very risky move by Construction Partners at that price. — Spruce Point Interview, Industry Expert With Decades Experience"

""The Company reclassified prior year comparative figures in the condensed consolidated statement of cash flows to conform to the current year's presentation....This change in presentation did not have an impact on the Company's financial condition or operating results." — Amcor 10-Q Note 1"

""both XVIVO and TransMedics are going to have serious competition from NRP...I think at least 50% of heart centers will feel very comfortable doing NRP...they're going to split that remaining market right down the middle." — Prominent surgeon, director of leading academic transplant center"

"I was kind of surprised...a lot of that’s driven by the young families that have Facebook. And they’re very active...And they’re much more convinced they’re going to cure this condition in their child’s lifetime. — Trial investigator and physician; one of the leading KOL’s in the PWS field"

"I’ve heard of a delay of shipment of systems to have Lasertec fix some things or engineering changes…they’re holding off near-term shipments until they resolve these quality issues. — Longtime executive at Global Foundries; directly involved with Lasertec and all aspects of mask inspection"

"“I can tell you right off the bat...they haven’t taken any impairments against their balance sheet, so they’re probably over-valuing their inventory far greater than it’s actually worth...a lot of these companies are sitting on so much inventory....” — Senior employee at Marvell Technology"

"As part of our diligence, we spoke with a former senior executive from the early days at Monolithic. His insights about the Board, and notably that the Audit Chairman was asked to leave for “asking questions the CEO didn’t like” that “rocked the boat” should be viewed as a major red flag."

"Eurofins' claim in its response that "Eurofins commissions statutory audits covering nearly 100% of its external sales, EBITDA and total assets, even when this is not required by local regulation. These are performed mostly by Tier 1 and Tier 2 audit firms" sounds good, but is misleading."

"Documents from a FOIA request conducted by the non-profit news organization The Markup reveal that PowerSchool offers its Intersect Connection & Advanced Awareness product in states that have active SOPIPA laws. The Markup investigation even found evidence of racial targeting of students."

"Pershing Square believes, based on our investigation, that in the past Herbalife's compliance department made essentially no effort to enforce or audit compliance with the 70% Rule or the Ten Customer Rule and has taken steps to make Herbalife's return policy unattractive to distributors."

"Spruce Point has analyzed DV's global locations listed on its website. We find that it frequently changes addresses and has closed more physical locations than opened. Notably, it no longer has a listed address in the technology hub of San Francisco and shuttered offices in Latin America."

"Combining our gross profit assumption from the prior page with a meaningfully discounted P/E multiple to reflect the heightened risks surrounding significant red flags that we’ve highlighted in the report yields a price target of $23 to $32 and represents approximately 30% to 50% downside"

"After a period of first reducing the total share count and then holding it steady, we see that Stryker's total shares outstanding are now starting to creep higher. Furthermore, family matriarch Ronda Stryker is increasing share sales along with Greenleaf Trust which manages family shares."

"Our research indicates that Biotech Labs has not received the requisite USDA licenses to sell its products in the U.S. This is confirmed by the LinkedIn company description of one of its foreign distributors, Biotech Diagnostics, Maryland-domiciled entity that raises additional questions."

"According to Space News, the Northrop Grumman / Orbital ATK deal will put Aerojet at a competitive disadvantage for competing on cost for large solid rockets. The sole rationale for keeping Aerojet in the business could be to prevent a monopoly, despite its challenges to compete on price."

"We believe investors should be concerned that management’s long-term restricted stock incentive program is tied to fewer hard long-term financial performance metrics, and now includes arbitrary stock price targets (which imply lower and lower growth) – most of which have been hit already."

"CLEAR is also eliminating the Net Member Retention metric going forward and instead will rely on Gross Dollar Based Retention which embeds both member retention and ARPU growth. Spruce Point believes this is a ploy to hide the underlying problem which is cancellations or member retention."