Callouts & quotes from 264+ activist slides

"We also expect to have lower equity earnings associated with the ULA business as a result of the number and mix of launches expected in 2019 compared with 2018.... The largest single item that is driving the margin reduction next year, though, is actually our ULA equity earnings. Those are actually going – we expect those to be down nearly $150 million or so from this year's estimate of the equity earnings from ULA. — LMT Q3'18 Conf Call"

"Latin America operating profit trended down during the fourth quarter and full-year as compared to last year... We have reduced both variable and fixed costs in our Latin America business, which has driven profit improvement since the low point during the second quarter of 2017. Conditions are stabilizing in Brazil, and we expect improving profitability in '18 and beyond from the actions we have taken. — Bemis Q4 2017 Ended Dec"

""Net cash provided by financing activities for fiscal 2004 was $8.7 million, compared with $11.4 million for fiscal 2003. The decrease is primarily attributable to a decline in proceeds from common stock issued under stock incentive plans. In addition, the Company had no short-term borrowings at the end of fiscal years 2004 and 2003, other than amounts due GECC which are included in accounts payable." — Linens 2005 10-K"

""Capital expenditures were $190 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $169 million in the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase in capital expenditures is primarily driven by increased investment to drive growth and improve cost productivity. Free Cash Flow in 2020 is expected to be approximately $350 million, with capital expenditures of approximately $200 million." — Sealed Air"

""With more modern technology than what's used in the traditional whiskey-making process, Cleveland, Ohio-based distiller Cleveland Whiskey has refined a proprietary scientific method. But thanks to his experimentation, his current process takes about a week from the beginning of production to bottling and shipping, compared with the years it takes using traditionally methods" — CNBC August 2015"

"Limbach trades at over 18x our estimate for its FY26E Adj. EBITDA, a large premium when compared to peers. We believe this premium is unwarranted considering the Company's decelerating organic revenue growth, non-existent free cash flow growth, and its aggressive accounting methods which we believe may overstate earnings quality and obscure the true underlying volatility of the business."

"Send volume increased to $12.1 billion for 2020, compared to $7.1 billion for 2019, largely due to higher transaction volumes from new and existing customers, partially offset by lower average send amount per active customers as a result of increasing geographic diversification, and in particular a mix shift toward corridors with lower average send amounts. — Remitly IPO Prospectus 2020"

"During 2022, net cash provided by operating activities was $596 million, compared to $538 million in 2021. The $58 million year-over-year increase was primarily driven by higher customer prepayments, timing of employee benefit payments and lower interest payments. Higher working capital levels, reflecting increased sales, partially offset these items. — Xylem 2022 Annual Report"

"“because we had to change parts and add resources,” — Lasertec CEO; “...the current source cost, together with the current stage cost, doesn't make sense. I don't think they can shave a lot compared to KLA and, in a 2x-led price war, it doesn't add up to me... we are around—we are $23-24 million.” — Former KLA executive in a leadership role in their EUV mask inspection group"

"Gross margin decreased to 45.6% in the current year compared to 46.4% for the prior year primarily due to product volume deleveraging, the negative impact of foreign currency changes and inventory-related charges, partially offset by pricing, higher service and software margins, and lower premium freight and component part costs. — Zebra Technologies 2023 10-K"

"We believe that the rapid uptake of the Libre among T2 patients compared to their much more muted adoption of the G-Series demonstrates that the (current) technological advantages of the more expensive G-Series are superfluous for T2 diabetics, and that the rest of the T2 market is almost entirely open for the taking by the cheaper and easier-to-use Libre."

""This 250-basis-point decline in gross margin as compared to the prior year was mainly the result of an unfavorable mix -- sales mix. The shift in mix was driven by the significant growth in shipments of portable generators and mobile products during the quarter, which carry lower gross margins relative to the consolidated corporate average." — CFO Q3 2017"

"We involved data specialists to assess management's estimate on reserve rates by recalculating historical reserve rates across multiple fiscal periods. We compared our independently developed historical reserve rates with the reserve rates used by management to evaluate management's ability to accurately estimate excess and obsolete inventory. — 2022 10-K"

""Sales advertising and other revenue increased by 22% as a result of a higher number of daily monetizable search grades we deliver to Microsoft Bing and others. Our daily number of searches was 17.7 million compared to 12.2 million last year. In addition, we added 13 new publishers to our network during the quarter." — Perion Q1'21 Earnings Announcement"

""Sales advertising and other revenue increased by 22% as a result of a higher number of daily monetizable search grades we deliver to Microsoft Bing and others. Our daily number of searches was 17.7 million compared to 12.2 million last year. In addition, we added 13 new publishers to our network during the quarter." — Perion Q1'21 earnings announcement"

"Gross margin for the quarter was 44.8%... Our gross margin for the quarter was approximately $25.2 million or 44.8% of revenue as compared to 40% in Q3 FY '21 and up from 38.3% in Q2. The increased gross margin reflects the impact of higher revenues in particular higher NGS revenues and thus leveraging our fixed costs. — James M. Thorburn, Twist CFO"

""In the near term, I would expect less profitability at the bottom line than what was previously disclosed." — Stephen Croskrey, CEO Danimer Scientific. "As I noted earlier, the Phase II expansion is now expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022 compared to our initial assumption of late 2021" — John Dowdy, CFO Danimer Scientific."

"“Our proprietary paresthesia-free HF10 therapy, delivered by our Senza system, was demonstrated in our SENZA-RCT study to be superior to traditional SCS therapy, with HF10 therapy being nearly twice as successful in treating back pain and 1.5 times as successful in treating leg pain when compared to traditional SCS therapy.” — Nevro 2020 10K"

"The SafeCharge one just felt off compared to those. — Former Nuvei Employee. I would say their targets for integration and migration were unrealistic. — Former Nuvei Employee. For me its odd to see everything in the black. There is a little bit of me that is saying, “ok, what accounting practices did you change?” — Former Nuvei Employee."

"After the MRC Committee decides on any appropriate adjustments, actual earnings (Actual STIP Earnings) and actual comparable sales results (Actual STIP Comparable Sales) are compared to the Target STIP Earnings and Target STIP Comparable Sales, respectively, and the Corporate Pool Funding (defined below) is calculated as set out below."

"The Applicant analyzed the effect of the 20 mg dose compared to placebo and the 40 mg dose compared to placebo in the stable dose period. The relative risk of cataplexy events in the 20 mg dosing group was 0.392 (95% CI [0.270, 0.571]; p < 0.0001) and 0.623 in the 40 mg dosing group (95% CI [0.510, 0.761]; p < 0.0001). — FDA Review"

"And I would just add, John, that with a really strong balance sheet, no debt, every comp store in the chain is contributing positive EBITDA. We're in a really nice situation, particularly compared to 8 years ago when that wasn't the case and maybe we did have to slow that a little bit or chose to slow that? — CFO Watkins"

"They wanted to see how their vehicles were performing, and what data we had compared to data we had. They wanted real time access to the XL Link, and we weren't able to give it to them. The company wouldn't allow it, because I think the data would not show in a favorable light what the vehicles were doing. — ComEd"

"Over time, anemia events were reported in approximately 18 percent of atrasentan patients compared with ten percent of placebo treated patients, with mean change in hemoglobin between groups of approximately one g/dL; these findings are consistent with mechanism-based hemodilution. — Chinook Therapeutics 2021 10-K"

""Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, excluding intangible amortization, increased approximately 50 basis points as compared to the prior year period due to the impact of recent acquisitions that have a higher operating expense load relative to sales, given their start-up nature." — CFO Ragen Q1 2022"

"It is a single flight which has very limited explanatory power, and it is not in a meaningful amount of dust, in being from an airport in a city environment as compared to Joby’s footage over the desert. A manufacturer would require 100’s or 1,000’s of flights to get a meaningful dataset. — Footnote 143"

"KLA is working on it...NuFlare is working on a tool and ASML has a division where they’re working on a multi-beam inspection tool...which means it has much better throughput compared to the Holon inspection tool. — Longtime, senior semicap equipment executive in Japan who is friendly with Lasertec’s CEO"

"For the 2020 financial year, we are planning an 8% decline in sales. The scil International Group is planning an 11% decline in sales in 2020 compared to the previous year. The reason for this is the expected discontinuation of a supplier, as he wants to sell his products directly. — Heska 2019 Report"

"HIMS frequently references 85-88% “long-term retention”. Not only does HIMS often fail to clearly define this as retention between years end 2 and 3 (a non-standard metric that cannot be easily compared to others), but it also over-emphasizes the potential usefulness and materiality of the metric."

"Employer Services' overall margin increased from 30.4% to 30.6% for fiscal 2017, as compared to fiscal 2016. This 20 basis point increase was driven by operational efficiencies partially offset by 30 basis points of pressure from dual operation costs related to our Service Alignment Initiative."

""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."

"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."

"An interview with a Senior Executive at a Danimer competitor reveled there will likely be challenges to scale within the trillion-dollar plastics industry. In addition, Danimer’s reliance on canola oil looks to be a competitive disadvantage compared to lower priced alternative inputs."

"It is evident that if investors include acquisition related expenses when calculating the company's free cash flow, the sum of free cash flow generated from 2013 to 2018 would be $205 million, as compared to $1.1 billion if those acquisition related expenses were excluded from capex."

"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"

"Talking to some of the study people, they really only see the effects of the 4 to 6 months on the drug...that's what I was told just to really see the effects, which is a little unusual compared to the data. — Division Chief for pediatric endocrinology at a major NE academic center"

"Lazard also reviewed other approaches such as the (1) repurchase of shares only and (2) the separation of TWC and repurchase of shares. Both approaches appear to provide significantly fewer corporate benefits and create less value compared to the value created through Separation."

"When compared to peers, Limbach has among the lowest NTM RPO as a percentage of estimated NTM revenue. This could imply a weaker forward revenue base, shorter project durations, or less visibility into future revenue, potentially signaling elevated revenue risk relative to peers."

"Every president has been a researcher from Kao, but compared to other companies, it seems that they lack marketing knowledge and management performance (...) the management is unable to provide appropriate marketing direction — Current Employee via Openwork (December 03, 2024)"

"Spruce believes Kalshi and other prediction market entrants (e.g., Polymarket) represent a much larger threat to DKNG than to Flutter (FLUT). DKNG is almost entirely U.S.-dependent, with ~61% of its total revenue coming from its U.S. sportsbook, compared to just 29% for FLUT."

"Spruce Point finds that, for large-volume orthodontists, printing in-house could produce over 50% more savings over Align compared to sourcing from third-party labs, and would allow most orthodontists even of lesser tiers to save over 60% compared to Align fees themselves."

"As shown in an excerpt from Intuit’s FY 2024 10-K above, Intuit includes interest revenue in “Service and Other Revenue”, thus prohibiting investors from understanding the scale and trends related to this markedly different revenue stream compared to its core business."

"Cash flows from operating activities increased $43.0 million in the first 13 weeks of 2018 compared to the first 13 weeks of 2017. Higher profits, lower inventories and lower management incentive payouts accounted for the increase in cash provided. — Weis Markets MD&A"

"All three were intimately familiar with pitolisant and criticized it for having the same fatal flaws, based on their analysis or testing, and characterized it as an old, simple, and inferior compound compared to the molecules they developed - and which still failed."

"Buyouts of non-competes happen in the railroad sector – however, $25 million for Mr. Orr, who does not have experience leading operations at an Eastern U.S. railroad, is excessive when compared to the 2017 buyout for Hunter Harrison, industry-renowned PSR operator."

"The contributions of the Recent Acquisitions totalled $41 million. — Q1 2023 Report; The contributions of the Recent Acquisitions for the full period compared to partial contributions in the same period last fiscal year totalled $61 million. — Q2 2023 Report"

"“We believe PSX's business should justify a premium valuation relative to the group, given its chemical and midstream businesses should warrant a significant multiple uplift when compared to traditional refining assets…” — Raymond James, October 27, 2023"

"“We believe PSX's business should justify a premium valuation relative to the group, given its chemical and midstream businesses should warrant a significant multiple uplift when compared to traditional refining assets…” — Raymond James, October 27, 2023"

"“We believe PSX's business should justify a premium valuation relative to the group, given its chemical and midstream businesses should warrant a significant multiple uplift when compared to traditional refining assets…” — Raymond James, October 27, 2023"

""We also have an exceptional referral rate at 61%, compared to the industry average in the 30% range. It shows that our employees not only want to work for TaskUs, but they want their friends and families to also." — Nearshore Americas, Feb 4, 2019"

"Based on our view of the operations of Casino, Tesco and Carrefour, and how Casino treats gains from asset sales compared to its competitors, we believe Casino's accounting materially misrepresents profitability from its France retail operations."

"“...As a result, our losses related to fixed assets and personnel expenses related to severance payments increased ¥12,704 million and ¥1,762 million, respectively, for the year ended March 31, 2013 compared to the previous year.” — FY 2012 20-F"

"In the current melee the opposite seems true: illiquid assets are more valuable because it is easier to convince the accountants that they have not declined in value compared to liquid assets where there is more transparent pricing data."

"Limbach's stock-based compensation payments, which are at the high-end when compared to peers, coupled with warrant issuances and a public offering in 2021, have left Limbach's shares outstanding nearly 50% higher than they were in 2019."

"The problem, compared to what you can do with NRP or other technologies, is that the heart on the TransMedics device is beating but it's empty...it's not doing any work...it's not supporting circulation...it's not generating a pressure."

"…you should take into consideration the run rate increase in Patch expenses as compared to the approximately $75 million we spent in 2010… we’re going to spend $160 million a year this year on Patch… — AOL Chief Financial Officer"

"A review of large REITs indicates that these businesses support investment grade ratings with a debt to enterprise value of 36% on average, as compared to Pro Forma McDonald's which would have a debt to enterprise value of 25%."

"We believe our plan could create total value of $54 to $64 per share compared to ~$28 per share in the proposed transaction, while retaining operating control and the prospect of receiving a true control premium in the future"

"PGNY is generally considered a technology laggard compared to its fertility benefit manager peers, which either have strong digital DNA given their recent founding or have sought to partner with leading technology platforms."

"For the year, our e-commerce sales increased 30.2% year-over-year and on a 52-week to 52-week basis and accounted for 16.1% of our sales compared with 17.4% in 2020 and 9.4% in 2019. — Floor & Decor Q4 2021 Earnings Report"