Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

"Given that the turnover in the auditor, audit committee, and CFO position occurred while SPRD was in the midst of a stunning turnaround, did the resignations and removal have anything to do with discomfort about SPRD’s accounting?"

"We estimate that more aggressive tax maneuvers (i.e. discrete items) by BR in FY 2022 resulted in approximately $20.6 million of cash flow benefits. We believe there are long-term limits to how much lower BR can push tax benefits."

"IQVIA executive slams BLI’s instrument based on feedback from large pharma/biotech users: “old,” completely outdated,” “not very user friendly,” “prone to errors,” “cumbersome,” and states AI and machine learning claims are bogus."

"Our estimates are significantly below the Street in 2022. We also eliminate all the "noise" of Stryker's adjustments, which we believe are covering-up financial strains and allowing results to rapidly diverge from GAAP financials."

"We do not believe the market fully appreciates the rising challenges that Rollins is likely to face from an onslaught of private equity money competing for deals and capable of driving up valuations for actionable quality targets."

"Spruce Point believes there is significant downside risk to ROAD’s share price as its premium multiple is reconsidered by institutional investors in the face of our strong evidence to indicate that it is masking growing pressures."

"HGV's EBITDA growth is severely reduced by Diamond's slower growth business. HGV is forecasting 16% EBITDA growth on a standalone basis annually between 2022 and 2025 while Diamond standalone is only forecasted to grow 4% annually"

"Our diligence leads us to believe that CSC is likely non-substantive and effectively an alter ego of IQE, supporting our view that IQE's economic reality is more appropriately understood by adjusting for the transactions with CSC."

"A senior Genomatica employee told us clearly and unequivocally that they have never paid Ginkgo cash for foundry R&D services, and are simply using R&D credits provided after large investments by Viking and Ginkgo into Genomatica."

"Spruce Point has conducted a thorough forensic review of the Amcor / Bemis transaction, including management's bold claims for the transaction. Our analysis either disproves, or calls into question, each of the main selling points"

"TransMedics National OCS Program (NOP) is, we believe, a large-scale fraudulent billing conspiracy whereby customers - transplant centers and organ procurement organizations (OPO's) - are overcharged for its air transport service."

"BEF Foods has demonstrated remarkable growth in overall profitability... but this is going un-recognized by the investment community, who continue to fixate on the negative same store sales performance of the Restaurants business:"

"While Mr. Shaw may have correctly identified service improvement as the guiding light to growth and profitability, he has selected a misguided strategy that does not improve network fluidity, trip plan compliance or profitability."

"Mr. Barber has a track record of growth and significant experience in operations, supply chain, strategic planning, employee relations and risk management from his 35-year career as a leader in the shipping and logistics industry."

"Looking at the unadjusted dividend yield of STB of 8.3% is not relevant because of STB's shorter history and significantly younger vehicle fleet, which results in unusually low maintenance capex that will rise as their fleet ages."

"Perhaps in recognition of the fact that Dollarama is losing its status as a true dollar store, and that it now belongs to a different category, management has stricken almost all references to “dollar stores” from Company filings."

"Dollarama has zero social media presence, unlike all of its peers. Not only is the Company out of touch with customers in an industry which demands a high level of customer engagement, but its brand is becoming demonstrably stale."

"the basis of efficacy and FDA approval is nothing more than a sharp and rather fortuitous separation in HQ-CT scores in placebo arm (n=39) vs. DCCR (n=38) in the last 4 weeks of the 16-week withdrawal period (+4.5 pbo, +0.4 DCCR)."

"Therefore, our PK modeling leads us to conclude that Vykat is inferior from a PK standpoint vs. regular diazoxide – diazoxide has such a long half life that an extended-release version actually worsens its bioavailability profile."

"The researcher was diplomatic but clearly negative about Soleno’s opportunity, indicating that patient enthusiasm was modest at best, and that families are already discussing and are highly concerned about the drug’s side effects."

"LSPD was the only Company among its close peers talking about "quick" and "rapid" growth starting in April 2020. Other peers gave a more muted perspective, with one saying it really took until late June/July to see an improvement."

"The things that made Mortara what it was disappeared after the acquisition. The entrepreneurial culture was lost.... Sales people who were familiar with the flagship product were dropped, and it didn't sell as well under Hill-Rom."

"It’s like racketeering or something, right? That’s what it feels like...I’m sure other surgeons have used some pretty dramatic words...they’re playing like mafia-style...very deliberate and a thug-style way of getting things done."

"TransMedics strikes us as textbook case whereby it appears that customers are 1) forced to pay for a NOP service they do not want... and 2) to do so at a higher price than if they purchased each service themselves versus a bundle."

"From the inception of our short position on May 1, 2012, HLF stock declined by 13% (including dividends), and from our average cost basis prior to the position being made public, HLF stock increased 4%; extreme volatility persists"

"This statement by non-other than the founder of Jiazhang Jia, coupled with our findings that job postings shared the same business addresses as GSX reaffirms our suspicion that Jiazhang Jia is a company that channels sales to GSX."

"Auditors for both KLA and Lam recently noted inventory valuation as the one and only Critical Audit Matter in their last audit opinions, a designation reserved for the highest-risk and most material areas in the financial reports."

"Party B has a duty to actively implement the POP Kids Education system, safeguard and expand the brand’s visibility and reputation, engage in lawful measures to restrain behavior or actions which defame or otherwise harm the brand"

"WHY THEME PARKS ARE PROVING RECESSION-PROOF — Variety, August 30th, 2022. No such thing as recession in Disneyland? — Fortune, May 6th, 2008. Theme park industry weathering the recession — Attractions Management, April 27th, 2010."

"Glass Lewis believes that separating the roles of CEO (or, more rarely, another executive position) and Chair creates a better governance structure than a combined CEO/Chair position. — Glass Lewis 2024 Benchmark Policy Guidelines"

"Our competitors also may obtain patents or other similar protected formulas that may hinder our ability to develop new products or enter new categories, which could have a material adverse effect on our growth. — Oatly Risk Factor"

"BP's Officers “owe a duty to the Company to act with integrity (…). Integrity requires, among other things, being honest and candid (…). Deceit and subordination of principle are inconsistent with integrity.” — BP's Code of Ethics"

""The best measure to judge a company's performance over time is growth of free cash flow per share, and we believe that's what drives long-term value for our owners." — Rich Templeton, Chairman and former CEO of Texas Instruments."

"“Have more than 10 distributors been disciplined for violating the 70-percent rule?” “That’s possible.” — Mr. Stephens (Ford Counsel) and Ms. Miller (Herbalife Employee), Deposition of Jacqueline Miller in Herbalife v. Ford (2009)"

"Look, I think what's great about Sasan on one hand, is he's bullish and he's going to swing for the fences. What's sometimes not great about Sasan is he's bullish and he swings for the fences. — Former VP at Intuit, Tegus, 8/24/23"

"Glass Lewis believes that separating the roles of CEO (or, more rarely, another executive position) and Chair creates a better governance structure than a combined CEO/Chair position. — Glass Lewis 2024 Benchmark Policy Guidelines"

"The engineering modification and maintenance business acts as an internal MRO shop servicing Boeing and other aircraft needs. We estimate that this represents about 37.5% of total BGS revenue. — Sell side re Boeing Global Services"

"“When Nevro launched in 2015, I was really interested in the data and how much better it worked than regular spinal cord stimulation. So I used it and I was very impressed with it in the beginning.” — High volume implanter and KOL"

"Macht einen roten Punkt an den Stand, damit die nachher gekauft werden – Live-Shopping, sozusagen, [Publikum lacht] auf der Messe. Und dann musst Du nachher dann sehen, dass Du mit den ganzen Firmen klar kommst (Lacht). — P. W. M."

"“Jennifer Miller was the biggest enroller. I think Eric Felner was number two. And the third largest was a lady over in the UK. Nicola Bridges. She was the third top enroller.” — Formerly in a senior medical affairs role at Soleno"

"The TSA has publicly stated its intent to require all travelers to be processed through CAT machines in the future, either through travelers presenting physical IDs or through the transmittal of digital ID credentials. — 2023 10-K"

"A former high-level employee we spoke with called INOD’s AI “smoke and mirrors.” When we asked another former employee about INOD’s claims concerning its AI, they said management was “putting lipstick on a pig.” — Former employees"

"FF is like my child. It carries my lifelong belief, my resources, my passion, my only remaining spark, after years of sacrifice, battles, and hard choices. I've invested nearly $700 million of my own money into FF... — Jia Yueting"

"I think in these situations, the press puts a lot of pressure on insurers, and they often just cut checks for whatever the content’s limit is...so it would probably be 50% of Coverage A. — Former California P&C insurance executive"

"Phillips 66's (NYSE: PSX) conglomerate structure gives investors the worst of both worlds. The business doesn't benefit from refining upside to the same degree as pure-play peer Valero, but still has the same downside volatility."

"The formation of Cooper and Cesario's entity to run the fraud, CCMGRX, LLC was Sept 2014, one month prior to the formation of CCMS Payments (d/b/a Fifth Manhattan) and at the exact same address of 5050 Quorum Drive in Dallas, TX."

"Spruce Point believes GFL obscures what it is paying for “platform” deals because it has substantially overpaid. Instead, it points investors in its IPO document to an “average adjusted” EBITDA multiple of 7.0x for over 100 deals"

"After reviewing PR Industrial’s Italian filings there is a reference to a reclassification to the income statement without adequate explanation. As of the date of this report publication, PR Industrial has not filed 2021 results."

"His 40- plus years of global operating experience, financial expertise, consistent performance and an impressive track record serving on the boards of directors of public companies, will make him a valuable addition to the Board."

"AMT have shown little regard for shareholder value when investing in the Brazilian market, its two main investments appear to be classic cases of knee jerk acquisitions with no regard to potential risks and minimal due diligence."

"AFFO has become the metric of choice in comparing AMT with other REITs, however, it cannot be stressed enough that, as per NAREIT, there is no one methodology of calculating AFFO and rarely will one be comparing apples to apples."

"While we are pleased to learn that, albeit with unfortunate delay, BP is begrudgingly doing exactly what we have been requesting since October 2023 - de facto recognizing the failure of the strategy adopted by a complacent Board."

"Seventeen acquisitions since Jacobs took control of XPO, $6.1 billion of capital deployed, and it has generated $73m of cumulative adjusted free cash flow = a failed business strategy yielding a 1.2% return on capital investment."

"The nature of Farrens’ arranged “third-party” relationship with True Science and, if true, the accounting practices which it allegedly enabled, give us concern that they were part of a broader pattern of behavior for the Company."

"One former employee painted the dendrites claims/data as fraudulent: “definitely bullshit,” “I don’t buy this, for sure,” and replied “Absolutely” when we asked if he was saying that the key slide is “made up, fiction or garbage”"

"Red flag 7: Ex-employees indicate 1% of the obstacle is testing a dendrite-resistant material, which others have done and isn't difficult, but 99% is manufacturing it at scale, where QS has shown nothing and where companies flop."

"Quantumscape's projection of ~$10B in revenue booked in 2027/28 means that VW has to commit to substantial purchases of solid-state batteries by 2022/23 – an absurd notion, given the VW concerns and questions we detailed earlier."

"We also question why management would get the benefit of such significant acquisition-related add-backs when they’ve admitted acquisitions are part of their business model. We believe they should be considered recurring expenses."

"The Summary White Paper contemplated a separation of the portfolio as a means to an end to increase the probability that the individual businesses eliminate operational underperformance vs. peers and achieve a multiple re-rating."

"If Hess is “realizing synergies from the transfer of technical skills and operating capabilities globally”(1) then... Why is Hess a less efficient operator in unconventional plays than independents without global offshore assets?"