Callouts & quotes from 1,316+ activist slides

"Mr. Prittie’s alleged shortcomings were tied to his perceived failure to come to grips with Tyler and OneMove’s concerns over the Company’s financial status, share price performance, leadership, strategic vision and strategy, corporate governance, CEO compensation, excessive M&A activity, debt leverage to cash flow ratios and the lack of guardrails around senior management decision making."

"The Street believes that VRNT shares trade at a ~35% discount to SaaS peers. However, we estimate that VRNT trades just above the industry median, despite its chronically low organic growth, destructive acquisitions, and inability to generate cash flow growth despite frequent M&A – a stark contrast to the many fast-growing and highly-profitable true cloud businesses which occupy the space."

"In 2019, CPIPG issued bonds in Hong Kong Dollars and US Dollars totaling €362 million equivalent via our EMTN programme, and completed schuldschein loans for €170 million. Proceeds were used to refinance debt including a bridge loan related to our UK acquisition and drawings under our revolving credit facility; some of the proceeds will also be held in cash. — CPI PG 2018 Management Report"

"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."

""So let me reiterate our key goals around liquidity and funding our growth. Our key goals remain to continue driving more efficient and seamless direct customer and PPA financing platforms, avoid restricting additional cash, maintain sufficient working capital to support the growing backlog of deployments and avoid dilution of existing equity owners." — Paul Middleton - CFO, Plug Power"

"Spruce Point believes it's likely that MPWR routes its cash through Singapore, which is owned by MPS International Ltd. (Bermuda). Singapore engaged in related-party transactions with Bermuda for "Services Rendered". Yet, its Singapore subsidiary Monolithic Power Systems (Singapore) PTE. LTD currently has a going concern warning, and is audited by a three person firm called Plus LLP."

"Spruce Point believes it’s likely that MPWR routes its cash through Singapore, which is owned by MPS International Ltd. (Bermuda). Singapore engaged in related-party transactions with Bermuda for “Services Rendered”. Yet, its Singapore subsidiary Monolithic Power Systems (Singapore) PTE. LTD currently has a going concern warning, and is audited by a three person firm called Plus LLP."

"Spruce Point believes that Dropbox overstates free cash flow with a simplistic presentation that is analytically flawed and ignores two material costs such as: 1) Costs required to repurchase shares related to employee compensation programs, which are operating in nature, and 2) Costs associated to pay for infrastructure, which are effectively deferred capital expenditure payments."

"We believe it will be difficult for Zillow to grow as long as its Premier Agent business is in decline. Our estimates for 2024 assume continued weakness in Premier Agent offset by strong gains in its Rentals business paired with a comparable operating expense structure to 2023. Based on these estimates, we believe Zillow could produce $200 to $260 million of free cash flow in 2024."

"With an annualized dividend of $1.52 per share, the stock yields 7.8%. The good thing is that its AFFO payout ratio for the year was 76%, and the core FFO payout ratio was 80.9%. The forward AFFO and FFO payout ratios at the midpoint are 77.75% and 83%, respectively. Given the relative predictability of REIT cash flows, I'm not worried about dividend safety. — Seeking Alpha author"

""CGI's corporate performance - and stock price - warrant scrutiny. Among them are decreasing cash flow - a key metric of financial health - and falling bookings of new business, as well as various "accounting conventions" that have improved CGI's earnings, in part through recognizing revenue already counted by Logica plc, a big technology company CGI bought last year." — Newsweek"

"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"

"Just as the Company reaches a size at which continued M&A-fueled growth would require even larger deals, management is communicating that it no longer has sufficient cash flow to consistently support M&A from FCF on top of its fairly consistent $450-550M return of cash to shareholders, and that any M&A would have to come out of buybacks / dividends (if not the balance sheet)."

"We see a major red flag that REZI has made four separate revisions to its capex nomenclature on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow. The revisions make it appear as if REZI is trying to obscure its technology spending which we view as enormously important given its recent disclosure of ERP challenges and the importance of technology in its product and service offerings."

"Looking carefully at AMR's reported interest income relative to its unrestricted and restricted cash balance we see a startling observation: AMR reported an effective savings rate of between 2 and 6 basis points in Q4 2021, depending on whether it earns interest income on restricted assets. This could indicate that AMR was nearly out of cash and draining capital resources."

""The costs attached to each of the receivable balances have essentially been absorbed as we generate the revenue in any particular quarter. So as the cash comes in, there is no additional cost attached to that. And the reason that those receivables are there is because there is no meaningful service component attached to them either." — Scott Flanders Q1 2018 Earnings Call"

"(3) Non-cash impairment charges recorded in operating expenses and in other expenses in the consolidated statement of earnings by the insurance and reinsurance companies and Non-insurance companies reporting segment, respectively. During 2022 the company recognized non-cash goodwill impairment charges of $133.4 on Farmers Edge. — Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (Footnote)"

"A hallmark of inflated profits is inflated assets. Through a Chinese attorney our investigators obtained the recent tax fillings for Mettler's 10 China subsidiaries. We find Mettler's assets in China as depicted from tax filings are materially lower than assets depicted at the consolidated level in Mettler's SEC reporting. We also could not account for some of its cash."

"There's already evidence that Porch is failing to meet its financial objectives. The Company claimed it would complete the transaction with $205m of cash and no debt. Yet, it ended up with more cash than projected, but its debt balance is still claimed to be $40m in Porch's investor presentations. This figure is actually contradicted by Porch's 2020 10-K to be $50.8m(1)"

"“Capital discipline is key and it’s an area in which Solvay excels. We have a demonstrated track record in the art of making prudent and strategic use of cash and implementing comprehensive cash allocation strategies. These considerations will remain at the forefront of our thinking, helping us safeguard dividends and create greater value for stakeholders.” — Solvay.com"

"AMR prominently promotes how valuable its 65% ownership in Dominion Terminal Associates (DTA) is to its export business, claiming export sales are primarily shipped through it. We will show how AMR gets all the benefits of owning and using the DTA, while avoiding any impact to its key performance metrics such as "cost of coal sales", EBITDA, and operating cash flow."

"“Against Engine’s ‘advice’ to not attempt a debt refinancing, and its hyperbolic posturing, the Company refinanced its debt on more favourable terms that materially reduced its debt service cashflows, staggered and extended its maturities, and saved the Company approximately CAD $20 million annualized in net interest costs.” — Dye & Durham Board (September 25, 2024)"

"Considering that Zillow's Adj. EBITDA is virtually all stock-based compensation, Spruce Point believes free cash flow is a much better figure to value the Company. Zillow trades at a much higher multiple of free cash flow then nearly all its peers. At over 6x sales and ~37x+ FCF, we believe that Zillow is one of the most richly valued stocks among its peer group."

"The cumulative impact of these announcements helped send shares from ~$1.50 to over $7 in the span of a couple weeks, driven by what we view as misplaced AI excitement, poor retail investor understanding of the true cash impact of PCF deals, and aggressive short covering from investors positioned for Lumen's death rather than the extension of a sudden lifeline."

""Digital Garage has a great payment service provider business, and yet, they have not done enough to capture the shift toward cashless payments in Japan. As shareholders, we can no longer sit idly by and allow this great company to miss this opportunity. This is a call to action for DG's management." — Seth Fischer, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Oasis"

"The Company contributed $5.0 million in cash and certain intellectual property to Cooksonia in exchange for a 70% equity interest in Cooksonia (“Class A Units”). Cooksonia received $20.0 million in cash from another investor, who is a related party of the Company, for a 20% equity interest in Cooksonia (“Class B Units”). — Excerpt from Prospectus, Sept 17, 2021"

"Spruce Point has identified many red flags as it relates to Aerojet’s meteoric share price appreciation since 2017. Its significant EBITDAP growth without corresponding cash flow growth should be evaluated relative to recent executive and director departures, along with heavy insider selling, a civil DOJ inquiry, and disclosure of federal and state tax audits."

"During the fourth quarter of 2020, changes in mine plans and the determination that certain mineral reserves previously forecasted to be mined were no longer considered economic due to poor geologic conditions reduced forecasted cash flows for one Met and one CAPP - Thermal asset group to amounts below those required for full recoverability. — AMR 10-K, p. 106"

"The Compensation Committee and/or the Chief Executive Officer also retain the right to exclude extraordinary charges or other special circumstances in determining whether the objectives were met during any particular fiscal year and may decide to grant 100% of the targeted cash bonus award, even if the financial targets do not fall within the specified range"

"In Q2, I briefly discuss the increase in account receivable as a result of our strong revenue growth. We saw the impact of strong revenue growth on receivables again in Q3 as AR increased by $29.7 million from Q2 of 2021. We are implementing a new order to cash process as we onboard, new clients and expect to reduce our DSO in 2022. — CFO on Q3'21 Conf Call"

"Considering the fact that IQ paid RMB 2.4 billion for this supposed “game development company,” we find this to be ridiculous at face value and believe it is indicative of utter incompetence by IQ’s management at best, or a completely fraudulent transaction designed to siphon cash out of the publicly-traded company and into management’s pockets, at worst."

"Based on Shares Sale and Purchase Agreement, the previous owner ensures that the aggregate value of coal in stockpile and cash is US$ 5,600 and no liability in ALH financial statements as of April 30, 2013. Because of variance between ALH financial position and such agreement, the previous owner has to give US$ 12,007 to OPE. — PT Atlas 2013 Annual Report"

"One important area in which fiscal '19 will differ from fiscal '18 is in capital allocation. With $600 million of acquisition debt repaid and our leverage target achieved, we returned to our historical priorities for deployment of cash, which our CapEx, acquisitions, dividend payments and share repurchases. — Cintas CFO Q4 2018 Earnings Call July 19, 2018"

""I've only come up with five meaningful ways we can use our cash. First, we can invest in our current businesses. Second, we can use our cash to pay down debt and we have. However, we intend to maintain our investment grade credit rating, which we're already good shape on, and our debt is in great shape as well." — Stephen Wetmore, CEO, 2014 Investor Day"

""We are excited to partner with such a well-known and storied brand," said Skillz CEO Andrew Paradise. Now, everyone around the world can compete for cash and glory with the Big Buck Hunter mobile app powered by Skillz. — Andrew Paradise; "a cultural icon for 20 years" — Andrew Paradise; "the most unprofessional CEO that I’ve ever met" — Former employee"

"Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). DSO is a metric we use to evaluate the efficiency of our working capital. It represents the average number of days to convert our trade and other receivables, unbilled receivables, contract assets, and deferred revenue to cash. We calculate DSO by annualizing gross revenue for the quarter as reported under IFRS. — Stantec"

"BR's CEO cited many records in FY 2022, but what he doesn't point out is that cash flow declined. By adjusting the results for the onerous UBS project investment and COVID-19 effects, as well as the inorganic acquisition contribution from Itiviti, we estimate that BR's core business experienced declining Cash From Operations by approximately -17.2%."

"Spruce Point believes part of what has driven Weis' share price is the belief that its operating cash flow grew 550% YoY in Q1'18. However, by pro forma adjusting results for its aggressive accounting change to accelerate accounts receivables as cash, and a one-time incentive payment (cash flow drag) from Q1'17, we estimate the growth rate was 74%."

"The proxy statement depicts Xylem’s ability to retire Evoqua’s debt and pay transaction costs entirely with cash and equivalents from the balance sheet. However, the balance sheet below also assumes that Xylem has frictionless and unfettered access to all of its cash even though 86% of cash is in foreign markets and may not be freely convertible."

"Our strong customer relationships and product recognition allow us to attempt to capitalize on a number of important strategic opportunities, including (i) minimization of slotting fees, (ii) maximization of new product introductions, (iii) maximization of shelf space prominence, and (iv) minimization of cash collection days. — 2019 Annual Report"

"In our opinion, Ströer's auditor has committed a clear error. IFRS is clear that Ströer's borrowing activity should be shown gross. Even though we have had front row seats to some of the most spectacular auditor failures of this decade, we are still stunned that Ernst & Young has overlooked this basic and obvious problem in Ströer's cash flow."

"Xylem portrayed its ability to retire Evoqua’s debt and pay transaction costs with available cash from Evoqua and existing cash on its balance sheet. Total debt was illustrated to be $2.0 billion. However, in reality Xylem’s current debt rose over $500 million and it quickly filed a shelf registration the day after its Q2 2023 earnings call."

"Spruce Point believes investors should be skeptical of the continued outperformance of PERI’s share price. PERI recently announced a CEO transition plan and then disclosed concerning revisions to accounting policies in its annual report. Insiders have been repeatedly liquidating shares and PERI reported its first cash flow decline in years."

"Free cash flow growth should be a strong driver of equity valuation and sell-side analyst price targets. What we find is that Stryker's 2022E Free Cash Flow estimates have been contracting. Yet, not a single analyst has downgraded the stock, and in fact some brazen analysts claim shrinking Free Cash Flow merits a price increase and a "Buy"."

"If certain factors arise, we may be required to record a significant non-cash charge to earnings in our consolidated financial statements during the period in which an impairment of our goodwill is determined. Any such non-cash charge could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and net worth. — WTRG 2022 Annual Report"

"Carvana management likes to say that it currently has access to $1.5bn in total committed liquidity (excluding unpledged real estate assets). In reality, of this amount, only $488m as of 1Q23 is cash on hand with the balance primarily short-term revolving capacity available only for financing vehicle inventory and funding customer loans."

"Given the size of legal spend, it appears that Tessera pays full cash legal fees at extremely high hourly rates for all of its litigation instead of opting for performance driven structures, such as the use of partial contingency fees that reduce cash outlays, share risk and incentivize law firm performance as opposed to billable hours."

"By following this plan, we believe Macy's has the opportunity to create significant value for shareholders and massively improve its share price to approximately $70 per share (before value creation from further improved operations and credit card earnings), while maintaining its cash flow and real estate flexibility and reducing risk."

"The Company subsequently determined, however, to pursue multiyear upfront contracts with enterprise customers to help meet its fiscal year 2023 free cash flow goal. Upfront billings of enterprise customers in fiscal year 2023 substantially exceeded historical levels, helping the Company to meet its lowered annual free cash flow target."

"In Turkey - as in Germany - we are a clear market leader with our outside advertising with an over 50% market share. In 2015, we earned an operating EBITDA result of €14,000,000 with a cash flow of over €80,000,000 in sales in an admittedly relatively difficult market environment from a geopolitical perspective. — Udo Müller (CEO)"

"Of the £11,899.0m (31 March 2024: £10,479.2m) cash and cash equivalents at the period end, £1,061.2m (2024: £1,061.1m) is considered the corporate cash balance, which is not related to customer funds that are held in Wise accounts or collected from customers as part of the money transfer settlement process. — Wise Annual Report"

"“I think they're selling below the cost of their product. They set their pricing based on assumed cost and the fact that they have cash to weather it. They put Gen9 out of business using that pricing... I don't think they're ever going to recover from that.” — Ex-employee in senior product management and sales leadership roles"

"Disney should consider issuing a long-term free cash flow growth target beyond FY 2024 to anchor investors on a clearer strategic vision, improve investor outlook, and provide shareholders with a tangible commitment that the Company will allocate capital in a disciplined way to continually maximize long-term shareholder value"

"Disney should consider issuing a long-term free cash flow growth target beyond FY 2024 to anchor investors on a clearer strategic vision, improve investor outlook, and provide shareholders with a tangible commitment that the Company will allocate capital in a disciplined way to continually maximize long-term shareholder value"

"Companies that consistently invested their cash flow and resources in a share repurchase program have generated material outperformance over the past 5, 10 and 15 year periods, leading to an average of more than 4% greater annualized returns versus the S&P 500 index and 4x the amount of investor gains over the 15-year period"

"“The $14,992,000 due from the LFB [Leizhou Forestry Bureau] represents cash collected from the sale of wood chips on behalf of the Leizhou EJV. As originally agreed to by Sino-Wood, the cash was being retained by the LFB to fund the ongoing plantation costs of the Leizhou EJV incurred by the LFB.” — 1996 Annual Report, p. 20"

""It's all a question of what Time Inc.'s revenue growth potential is and how they see their business model evolving, and how stable are Time Inc.'s revenues going forward. Can Time Inc. be a killer brand online? If not, they'd better figure out ways to harvest cash from cost-cutting." — Richard Greenfield, research analyst"

""There's a lot. A lot of genres haven't been explored here." — Andrew Paradise (CEO, Skillz) in Forbes. "We are excited to partner with such a well-known and storied brand, now, everyone around the world can compete for cash and glory with the Big Buck Hunter mobile app powered by Skillz." — Andrew Paradise (CEO, Skillz)."

"MW: “Does all the non-cash HLBV income related to the ITC get reversed later, and how long does it take to be reversed?” HASI: “So I think hypothetically if you were to kind of hold everything about a project constant, yeah you would see that amount reverse over time.” — Conversation with HASI investor relations, May 2022"

""Stryker had a big inventory problem anyway, before COVID, where we were sitting on piles and piles of inventory in certain business segments. But then after COVID struck and it was very important that we saved cash flow and that we try not have too much inventory in the system." — Former Stryker Supply Chain Professional"