Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

"“If we roll out in more countries and regions through various sales channels, it is possible to aim for sales of 100 billion yen, but we will strive to be the Global Sharp Top without taking such an approach” — Kao Group Cosmetics and Skin Protection Business Growth Strategy Briefing"

""We put together a political action committee inside our company. I am in Washington every quarter, if not more than that. I have a list of Senators and Congressman that I go in and see. . . ." — Michael O. Johnson, CEO, Goldman Sachs 14th Annual Global Retailing Conference, 9/5/2007"

"“According to the agreement we were required to issue to an affiliate of Amazon warrants to purchase up to 2,932,176 of our ordinary shares which vest based on payments made by Amazon in connection with the purchase of goods and services from us.” — Kornit 20-F and Deal Press Release"

"Our capital expenditures in 2009 included approximately $35.1 million of investments directly related to our Blue Ocean multi-year program of information technology investment compared with $16.2 million (Note: RESTATEMENT) in 2008 and $5.0 million in 2007. — Mettler-Toledo 2009 10-K"

"CareDx considers itself “an international transplant diagnostics company with product offerings along the pre- and post-transplant continuum.” In that (somewhat hyperbolic) vein, the company mainly provides two diagnostic test services, AlloMap and AlloSure — CareDx Company Overview."

""On the CDMO side I think all the Lonza, Wu-Xi, Samsung's of the world should probably have one or two instruments, depending on how many programs they're supporting. But a relatively small-staffed, lean pipeline company, it's not necessarily worth the investment." — Gilead scientist"

"WPP, which invested $10 million in Spot Runner in 2006, alleges the two founders "perpetuated a 'pump-and-dump' scheme in which they aggressively promoted the company to new investors and then sold [the] new investors large quantities of their own secondary shares." — WSJ, April 2009"

"“a list of patients they were in charge of”; “high patient contact”; “reps engaging in the practice of medicine has always been the concern,”; “not health care providers in any way, shape, or form”; “responsible for the care of patients.”; “pretty concerned” — Former Nevro executives"

"“These results are very exciting for the treatment of PWS, as most patients showed improvements in body weight, hunger-related behaviors, and body fat content, despite the increased food intake included in the trial design,” explained Dr. Jennifer Miller — Zafgen Press Release, 2014."

""We are pleased to announce the involvement of Dr. Miller, a leading expert in treating patients with rare eating disorders, in the planning for a clinical trial evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of TRP-8802, Jim Kuo, Tryp's CEO, said in a press release." — Jim Kuo"

"“It’s the VC arm of Ginkgo, or that’s how they frame it. There is some independence. I don’t know exactly how the legality of it works, but I know Ginkgo is basically their funding mechanism... a lot of their money or investment comes back to Ginkgo.” — Synthetic biology entrepreneur"

"The Company leases property from PJD Properties Inc. Upon further investigation, we find that this is an entity controlled by CEO Patrick J. Dovigi. Why didn't GFL describe this in its notes on related party transactions, and what, if any, other transactions are not being disclosed?"

"Spruce Point believes it is extremely bearish that Generac’s Chief Marketing Officer (who was also named President of the new Energy Technology organization) resigned in Feb 2022, shortly after the CEO claimed he and his team were “incredibly bullish” on Generac’s long-term outlook."

"Spruce Point believes current sell-side analyst price targets are wildly optimistic. The consensus estimate projects 74% upside to Generac’s share price. Almost 90% of its stock promoters have a “Buy” recommendation or equivalent. 11% are “Hold” and not a single analyst says “Sell”."

"We believe that auto-oriented analysts are much more likely to understand Carvana as a business than are tech or business services analysts, and believe that their lower valuations, while still excessive on the whole, are likely better-informed than those of their tech counterparts."

"Now that Darden's egregious corporate governance practices have directly resulted in a substantial and easily avoidable destruction of shareholder value, in clear defiance of a strong shareholder directive, it is apparent that the majority of Darden's current Board must be replaced."

"Zebra changed its website navigation product description from “Temperature Monitoring and Sensing” which would allow site visitors to more easily identify the Temptime product to “Environmental Sensors” with the Temptime products being listed further under “Ready-To-Use Indicators”."

"Commoditization of program verticals that have larger markets will lead to lower tuition rates. We are already seeing plenty of evidence of tuition compression in the MBA Vertical, which is the most important vertical to 2U with at least 5 new MBA programs launching in 2018 and 2019"

"Based on Celgene’s most recent track record of overpromising and under-delivering on highly-touted pipeline products – specifically, the termination of GED-0301 and the refusal-to-file (“RTF”) for ozanimod – we question whether management’s projections are sufficiently conservative."

"PERI recently expanded its risk about browsers constraining its ability by including Apple's Safari into the discussion. Safari recently closed a loophole related to third-party cookies that hinders digital marketing. This could be another headwind set to affect its search business."

"「私はインテルとTSMCが何台のHHG装置を使っているかを知りません。なぜ知らないかと言えば、3つの迂回策を採っているからです。1つめにKLA製の装置があります。2つめにレーザーテックの非極端紫外線装置があります。実は、レーザーテック製の極端資材線装置で行ったといわれた検査の一部は、調べたところ実際にはレーザーテック製の193ナノメートルの装置で行った、という事実が判明しました。そして3つめとしてHHG装置があります。つまり、193ナノメートル対応のKLA製とレーザーテック製の装置があり、HHG装置もあります。加えてレーザーテック製の極端紫外線装置もあります」"

"If it becomes necessary, we are confident Phillips 66 could follow a similar path by: Making appropriate management changes; Closing the current $2-$3 per barrel refining EBITDA gap between Phillips 66 and Valero; and Generating $15 billion to $20 billion of after-tax cash proceeds."

"Ms. Alvarado served on NewPower's board alongside several notorious Enron executives, including Richard Causey, Enron's Chief Accounting Officer; Ken Lay, Enron's Chairman; and Lou Pai, a key Enron executive who held multiple leadership roles, including CEO of Enron Energy Services."

"Spruce Point's Conclusion - PLUG Is Uninvestible With Long-Term Potnetial To $0: PLUG has never generated a meaningful profit in its ~20 year history, and almost all of its recent sales and earnings growth has been supported by either unsustainable financing or shareholder dilution."

"We suspect that TransMedics and its highest-volume users may be under scrutiny as part of multiple federal/state regulatory investigations – which we would find unsurprising, irrespective of hearsay, given the flagrant conduct and rapidly unfolding backlash at centers across the US."

"Endocrinologists indicated the argument was nonsense and that regular diazoxide can be dosed once a day for PWS as well – that they're all well-aware that diazoxide has a long half-life, so it achieves the same steady-state plasma level within days without need for extended-release."

"Spruce Point spoke with a former front-line employee who had been with the company for over 5 years and was at the Company through approximately 7 of the earlier acquisitions. When we asked the employee which platform would he/she choose today, the response was definitively Shopify."

"We believe the Transaction presents the Company's stockholders with a compelling opportunity to realize a substantial cash premium to the trading price of their shares and/or to retain an ongoing equity interest in the next stage of the Company's evolution alongside Pershing Square."

""...in our franchise area, you are solely responsible for your own profits and losses. We won't get overly involved in the daily operations and personnel management. If you want, we can give you some advises on staff selections. But we will not hire people for you..." — EDU Employee"

"“Insular, outsiders don’t get ahead” — Anonymous Employee; “Outside views aren’t considered or embraced, change never pursued” — Anonymous Employee; “ADP is an accounting and processing company” — Anonymous Employee; “ADP is not a technology or software company” — Anonymous Employee"

""A Company For Carrying Out An Undertaking Of Great Advantage, But Nobody To Know What It Is" — South Sea Bubble. "No offense, but we don't really care what you think" — Jagdeep Singh, MIT Technology Review. "Disclosure, [Singh] suggested, reflects weakness" — Marker/Medium article."

""Between spaces completed since 2020 and what's still in the pipeline, the [Austin] office market will grow nearly 25% – the fastest rate on the continent...Roughly 87% of new office space is expected to open vacant, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield." — Cushman & Wakefield"

"“Beyoncé’s chart-topping album can provide a same-store sales bump and help lasso in women shoppers at Boot Barn, said Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser. He upgraded his rating on the California-based retailer to buy on Thursday and raised his price target by $33 to $113...” — CNBC"

"“Everybody knows. Fujian companies are all like this. To put it directly, we call this a “left hand-right hand” relationship. The ListCo is the right hand, and these subsidiaries, a lot of subsidiaries are not in the ListCo’s system, and they’re equivalent to the left hand.” — Mr. C"

"A Deutsche Bank analyst note dated April 27, 2018, reports that the pricing discount of the Peiyou online business is c.30%. A Jefferies analyst note, also dated April 27, 2018, reports that the pricing discount of the Peiyou online business is still 40%. — Deutsche Bank / Jefferies"

"So as much as I would like to talk about that deal with Raytheon on that particular transaction, I don't know anything about it. And we can somehow hold the session to talk about it. How big is the opportunity in defense and Intel, it's freaking huge. — CEO Siebel, Q3 2021 Conf Call"

"Everything we do starts with great products; and all our products start with proven science. Herbalife is dedicated to developing innovative, effective products that comply with the highest research, development and manufacturing standards in the industry. — Herbalife Website (2012)"

"We have also experienced instances of our competitors marketing products with similar appearances and similar model names to some of our products. Competition of this nature may increase in the markets in which we operate and may develop in new markets. — Caesarstone Ltd. SEC Filing"

"We believe Bill.com's SaaS technology is best-in-class, early in its adoption cycle with a very lightly penetrated TAM, and poised to sustain above-SaaS-industry-average growth as it executes on the SMB adoption of SaaS technology to automate the back office. — Oppenheimer (10/1/25)"

"Finally, the fourth major trend deals with the use of big data, neural networks related to machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics to increase our clients' efficiency and reduce cost in evaluating their reservoirs. — Core CEO David Demshur, Q1 2017 earnings call"

"“A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you've lost your trousers - you're in the airline business.” — Sir Adam Thomson, Founder and Chairman of British Caledonian, one of Britain's most successful independent airlines"

"Tellingly, when Garcia was asked point blank whether there was improvement in the GPU of the “vehicles themselves” rather than a one-time pop to its financing arm’s GPU, Garcia demurred from offering further color, and apologized for being “immediately evasive.” — Kerrisdale Capital"

""is not a good idea" — David Katz, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; "the whole idea is you are trying to draw a sharp line in the sand that people aren't going to go over, so you need to have clarity not ambiguity in these types of pills." — David Katz, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz"

"“...if you have hyperglycemia and diabetes, and you have edema and heart failure, and I do believe there were a couple of patients hospitalized with heart failure just to reduce appetite, it may not be a risk worth taking.” — Ex-Soleno employee #1, key role in clinical trial program"

"“Yes, yes, yes.” — Trial investigator, key opinion leader for PWS; “I actually thought it probably wouldn’t be approved. I thought they would be much tougher. And I think there was a very powerful campaign [by associations/families].” — Trial investigator, key opinion leader for PWS"

"Several have denied it. If I was to say 15, three approved it, I would probably say six denied it. And four have said premature to approve or deny. — Pediatric endocrinologist, leads one of the largest PWS clinics in US with 30-40 patients; 11 endocrinologists, major academic center"

"It is confounding that the Board would be willing to pay such a high price for Mr. Orr - who we believe is a less qualified COO candidate - when it refused to even engage with our proposed COO, a candidate who produced best-in-class operating metrics and network efficiencies at CSX."

"“Net Asset Value” shall mean, as of any date of determination with respect to any Person, (a) the total assets of such Person minus (b) the total liabilities of such Person in each case, as such amount would, in conformity with GAAP, be set forth on the balance sheet of such Person."

"Overmatured market -every loan officer has been called on in the state of Texas and most of them will never do business with Goosehead again because at some point the ball was dropped, their agent quit, or because we keep on calling them. — Glassdoor review from Texas-based employee"

"Хотел бы уточнить о возможности размещения четырех сирот из ДНР в вашем отеле 22-27 марта 2026 г. Только вот вывезли их из освобожд Милые девочки возрастом 14-17 лет. Красотки! У всех удочерение на финальном этапе, их уже ожидают семьи. С каждым ребенком будет — Sender of the email."

"Spruce Point believes there is significant downside to Nuvei’s share price as the Company is overvalued on all financial metrics, and should trade at best in-line with peer valuations, and at worse a material discount to reflect the numerous concerns we’ve documented in our report."

"Spruce Point observes a concerted effort by Avery over the years to provide less and less disclosure to investors. Notably, we see omission of six (6) key disclosures that directly affect revenue drivers. We believe this bolsters our concern that organic revenues may be overstated."

"I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the financing package itself. One reason, I'm not well versed in the details of the financing package as others are. But I -- obviously, Phil, we can take you offline, we can get you more comfortable with that as well going forward here."

"It’s practically relevant in the same sense like demonstrating an 11-bit vacuum tube computer in 1920 might have been relevant...I would not say it’s relevant in terms of solving real problems now or solving real problems next year or probably in five years or probably in 10 years."

"With the aligner printing software space finally attracting innovators which are addressing historical shortcomings among in-house 3D printing software, Spruce Point believes that one of the major bottlenecks prohibiting more widespread in-house aligner printing is set to collapse."

"Arconic is a tremendous platform for growth. It is not very often that a potential growth platform goes underutilized like Arconic has. I see a huge opportunity for accretive M&A in the EPS business, however, before those deals can be pursued, Arconic has to get its house in order."

"Spruce Point believes that investors should be concerned by AMR's recent auditor dismissal of KPMG in favor of RSM in 2020. The change doesn't appear to be arbitrary. Rather we find a sequence of events leading up to the change that suggest there were problems at the Company being."

"We immediately encountered articles discussing GF Securities involvement in a $12.7B fraud in China, centered on one of China’s largest publicly traded pharmaceutical firms, Kangmei Pharmaceutical, which allegedly overstated its cash balance by $4.3 billion “using false documents.”"

"Spruce Point questions the heavy insider selling in Q4 2021 around the time we find both: 1) Unusual international revenue declining and, 2) Underestimation of the Zentrick termination payout by 2x that would have drastically reduced the Company’s 29% earnings beat for the quarter."

"Spruce Point believes that Bloomberg is emerging as a powerful new player in the ESG and Climate space and that MSCI is aware of this by now disclosing it as a competitor. Bloomberg offers a comprehensive suite of analytics under the ESG function for public equities that it tracks."