Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

"Adapting the Nintendo library for smartphones could profoundly alter the complexion of the "attention share" currently occupied by Facebook, WhatsApp, and mobile games developers."

"The RTC Plan calls for a balanced approach to capital allocation that maintains robust growth investment above peer levels and accelerates the dividend to $8.00+ per share in 2023"

"Since the spinoff from GGP in November 2010 and from our average cost basis prior to the position being made public, The Howard Hughes Corporation's share price has increased 296%"

"Central Corridor, Atlantic Basin / Europe and US Gulf Coast assets are fundamentally attractive and should drive equivalent profitability with peers on a constant accounting basis"

"Solventum trades at a lower multiple than each of its subsidiary peer groups, and it even trades at a discount to 3M, of which Solventum was historically the best performing part."

"If we assume that MPWR's inventory metrics should be in line with industry peers, and that $245 - $265m of revenue is overstated, it implies ~$93m of inventory is also overstated."

"Some of the biggest companies in the industry don't offer gross margin guidance, which makes MPWR's ability to offer such precise guidance, that it rarely misses, very remarkable."

"ADP’s poor sales force productivity is inconsistent with the Company’s long-standing goal of driving bookings growth from both additional sales reps and productivity per sales rep"

"Although Canadian Tire may appear cheap compared to retailers on a P/E and EBITDA multiple basis, this is the incorrect way to value Canadian Tire given its unique business model."

"Improvements to Six Flags parks should be clearly visible next year as capex is spent on high ROI projects and new technology is leveraged to directly enhance the guest experience"

"Jury is out if “premiumization” is correct strategy, but what is clear that the optimal version of this strategy was not in place this year – SIX has a low bar to exceed next year"

"In the Interim Award, the ICDR granted certain of Glenmark’s “First-Phase” Claims, denied Napo’s “First-Phase” Counterclaims, and issued certain declaratory and injunctive relief."

"If Darden can realize just $65-90 million of our expected $271 million in cost reductions, we believe it can ensure that an SRG spinoff will not put its credit rating in jeopardy."

"If losses accelerate from increasing its production footprint with no revenues, at 0.5x to 1.0x tangible book value, IPX’s share price could see up to 95% downside risk potential."

"The Board should be reconstituted with new, truly independent directors from outside of Southwest who have best-in-class expertise in airlines, customer experience and technology."

"We show that CPI PG seems to significantly inflate the reported vacancy rates in its Prague and Warsaw office portfolios, which seemingly is used to justify inflated asset values."

"IonQ is simply a stagnant academic research project masquerading as a company, dressing up old technical data, puff presentations, and a glossy site into a cynical SPAC promotion."

"However, we believe that wider CGM compatibility sets up the industry for commoditization, and that Abbott is best positioned to benefit from this change as the low-cost provider."

"Hess's low exposure to N.A. natural gas means minimal impact from collapsing natural gas prices; Highest exposure of peers to oil means favorable impact from escalating oil prices"

"The claim for judicial review is allowed. (2) The planning permission (reference DM/22/01769/FPA) granted by the Council on 13th July 2023 for a solar farm at Burnhope is quashed."

"We believe Autodesk must improve its compensation practices, address its flawed budgeting process, and move to best-in-class standards for operations, compensation, and governance"

"With the Icahn nominees in the boardroom, the Board can improve McDonald's' governance, provide much-needed oversight and drive the Company's commitments to animal welfare forward"

"Our analysis required significant effort to extract and estimate Ambry Genetics’ quarterly revenues and test volumes due to limited public disclosure by Konica Minolta (“Konica”)."

"DNMR appears to be trying to give investors the impression that by acquiring Novomer, its new planned capacity will exceed that of its old plan – while costing significantly less."

"There is a company-wide problem at Darden as it relates to alcohol sales. This must be improved! Once improved, check averages would increase and the guest experience will improve"

"If Darden can realize just $65-90 million of our expected $271 million in cost reductions, we believe it can ensure that an SRG spinoff will not put its credit rating in jeopardy."

"Research and development (R&D) costs are typically disclosed as components of operating costs. Conspicuously, MDA did not break-out R&D costs in its section of operating expenses."

"Q2 results illustrate how the underlying business of the legacy MDA is deteriorating fast. YTD underlying organic growth was -12.7%. Management also cut EBITDA margins materially."

"All three years produce estimated interest rates of approximately 5% — below SOFI's own Blended Funding Cost of 6.3% and far below the ~13% yield on the underlying personal loans."

"When cash flow is tight and liquidity for paying down CPIPG’s expensive bridge loan is in your own words a “priority above all else”, why did management increase lending to Vitek?"

"Global population of ultra high net worth individuals ("ultra-HNWI") and their combined aggregate wealth have increased to record levels (even before factoring in gains from 2013)"

"By benchmarking AMR's tax refunds and interest refunds in relation to other post-bankruptcy U.S. coal companies, we find that the Company has been an abnormally large beneficiary."

"Through more than two years of patient, respectful and collaborative engagement with management, we have developed a clear and detailed understanding of Keisei and its businesses."

"Gregg Saretsky brings significant leadership experience and industry knowledge with a nearly 40-year career in aviation, including having served as CEO of WestJet for eight years."

"For the 2016-2019 PSP plan, management is targeting 2.8% organic sales growth, below expected market growth. Rather than improving performance, the Board decided to lower the bar."

"Premiumization in Haircare - Kao has been caught off-guard at home by premiumization in hair care, resulting in a sharp contraction in domestic Health & Beauty revenue since 2020."

"The Board should be reconstituted with new, truly independent directors from outside of Southwest who have best-in-class expertise in airlines, customer experience and technology."

"Spruce Point has a strong track record of exposing highly promoted technology disruptors before the sell-side and investors could figure out the business has inflected negatively."

"If we exclude bookings growth from Baker Hughes, its 3rd largest shareholder and JV partner, we estimate that core bookings (ex: Baker Hughes) would have been down by -4% to -31%."

"G-fees, and in turn, mortgage rates, may need to be as much as 240bps higher to produce economic returns that might attract private sector capital to new, small-scale participants"

"Spruce Point believes FND management should provide enhanced disclosure in its SEC filings on the following matters related to its vendor rebates and supply chain finance program."

"We believe that Amdocs' unusually steady margins are reflective of a management team eager to meet Wall Street expectations, and willing to engineer numbers to do so if necessary."

"Spruce Point believes that Saputo's acquisition of Dairy Crest (U.K.) brought to it a $724m "hidden" pension obligation that the market doesn't properly factor into the valuation."

"We believe an observable indicator of Saputo's challenged organic growth comes from its disclosure of annual liters of milk processed into cheeses, dairy products and ingredients."

"While adding flavors that resonate with seasonal preferences may be a good idea in theory, Spruce Point finds evidence that in practice there may be a lack of interest and demand."

"if Yorktown and METC’s insiders actually believe the Brook Mine is worth anywhere near $37 billion then why are they selling so many of their shares at a sub $1 billion valuation?"

"An increase in scale and an improvement in revenue mix (lower mix of servicing fees, higher mix of net interest revenue) should have driven margins above the 2006 pro forma levels"

"In either case, TI can generate $9.00+ of free cash flow per share in 2026 and will have demonstrated a path for continued strong growth in free cash flow in the many years ahead."

"Phillips 66's Board is "proud" of management and have compensated the current CEO generously while also anointing him Chairman, allowing him to consolidate control of the Company."

"Phillips 66 not only loads more discounted crudes than peers, but also pays lower prices on its WCS due to Central Corridor positioning vs. peers primarily running WCS in the USGC"

"Huntsman has the HIGHEST CEO base salary despite being one of the SMALLEST companies in the Proxy Peer set and failing to achieve its 2014, 2016, and 2018 Investor Day commitments"

"TWX, despite owning a large and profitable cable programming businesses and one of the largest US cable operators, has failed to develop valuable networks over the last ten years."

"Publishing's record over the last few years, however, has been less spectacular as title launches have not generated significant revenue based on industry rankings as shown below."

"Spruce Point believes DV's revenue growth expectations appear to be on the aggressive side. DV is expected to outgrow ad-tech and the global advertising agency space by almost 4x."

"Management cited a decrease in tournament related bonuses as the key driver, but this was consistently rebuffed by every agency that we interviewed, including a Momo owned agency."

"Churn for most teams hovers around 96%-99%. This leads us to question WFG's recruiting practices. WFG's high churn rate highlights just how important recruiting is to WFG's model."

"Phillips 66's Board is "proud" of management and have compensated the current CEO generously while also anointing him Chairman, allowing him to consolidate control of the Company."

"Phillips 66 not only loads more discounted crudes than peers, but also pays lower prices on its WCS due to Central Corridor positioning vs. peers primarily running WCS in the USGC"

"Spruce Point has a track record of short calls that identified early financial and accounting anomalies in major S&P 500 components that preceded significant share price declines."

"However, [investors] also agree with our core belief that there’s been a fundamental shift in how SMBs run their businesses that now makes it possible to disrupt QuickBooks’ moat."