Callouts & quotes from 597+ activist slides

"“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"

"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."

"If Val-gan can grow organically at a high single-digit rate as Valeant management projects, and management can invest the company’s free cash flow in new acquisition targets at historical rates of return, then we believe management can achieve its goal of 15%-20% annual EPS growth"

"It appears that Saputo keeps flip-flopping its reporting of Total waste and Total food waste. Optically, Saputo now reports significantly lower overall waste. However, it did not change its definition for Total food waste in its reporting section. Total waste now excludes sludge."

"Our interactions with a significant quorum of other shareholders holding BHP shares worth tens of billions of US$ have revealed extremely broad and deep-rooted support for pro-active steps to be taken by management to achieve an optimal value outcome for BHP's petroleum business."

"For private entities, the central legal question would generally be whether they knew or should have known that their services were being used in connection with such conduct and whether they nonetheless provided material assistance or failed to take reasonable preventive steps."

"While unfortunate, this disappointing trajectory has created a historic opportunity: With the right mindset and an appropriately ambitious turnaround plan, PepsiCo today represents a rare chance to revitalize a leading global enterprise and unlock significant shareholder value."

"In Russia, PepsiCo had an advantage selling beverages beginning in the early 1970s when PepsiCo's CEO (Don Kendall) negotiated a barter agreement that gave PepsiCo the exclusive right to sell cola in the Soviet Union, which lasted until the mid-1980s. — PepsiCo Company History"

"The plan that will be implemented with the election of all seven of our nominees and appointment of our proposed management team is projected to grow EPS from $11.81 (as of 2023) to $21.00 (as of month 36) to ~$23.00 (by FY 2027), a 93.7% earnings increase in just four years."

"“I was quite bullish and excited about a couple of years ago, and I'm less so now... we have a lot of good therapies already. There's just not a lot of open running room for Wakix in the setting of narcolepsy.” — Physician and professor of neurology at a large academic center"

"Our EPS/EBITDA estimates for 2017/2018 are ~3%/-10% below Street consensus. We expect strong top-line growth from North American onshore activity levels (~30%-35% of current revenues), but this will be partially offset by headwinds from offshore activity (~40% of revenues)."

"In our opinion, MAXR’s 2018 Adj. EPS expectation of $4.75/sh is pure fiction. The Company has made numerous aggressive accounting choices that inflate its Non-IFRS results. Based on our forensic review, we estimate EBITDA and EPS are overstated by 17% and 79%, respectively"

"The sell side values VRNT on a P/E basis against Non-GAAP EPS. This approach fails to take into account Verint's poor organic growth, the widening disparity between GAAP EPS and (low-quality) Non-GAAP EPS, and the Company's failure to grow cash flow despite a flood of M&A."

""We note that strategic initiatives suggested by Elliott are not necessarily leveraging or detrimental to credit quality. As such, we believe the company could carry out these steps while maintaining an investment grade rating." — J.P. Morgan Credit Research, February 2013"

"We have issues with TeliaSonera’s continuation of two previous accounting gimmicks that in 2013 and 2014 (the two years for which this board is responsible for the financials) respectively inflated reported EPS by SEK0.19 per share and SEK0.12 per share, or 5.9% and 3.8%."

"We note that strategic initiatives suggested by Elliott are not necessarily leveraging or detrimental to credit quality. As such, we believe the company could carry out these steps while maintaining an investment grade rating. — J.P. Morgan Credit Research, February 2013"

"I don't hear about it much from my colleagues — Prescriber #1. I’m think I’m not alone in this opinion — Prescriber #2. there’s just not a lot pf open running room for Wakix in the setting of narcolepsy — Prescriber #3. weakest of all the drugs out there — Prescriber #4."

"We believe 2015 EPS will likely be between $2.60 to $3.20. At a 13x P/E, the total value per share at year end 2014 is $36 to $43. If same-store sales remain flat for the next several years, year end 2014 total value per share is $28, driven largely by share repurchases"

"It is a one-for-one model. We literally, we are accountable - and we're a B corp, by the way which keeps us accountable - um, so every three months we see how many units were sold, and you know, basically calculate how many units we gave during that time period. — Spear"

"Avery is more expensive and levered than it appears. We believe Avery inflates Adjusted EBITDA and EPS with dubious restructuring add-backs. In addition, it obscures reporting of operating leases, which are also debt, and ignores pension and environmental liabilities."

"After years of Phillips 66’s (NYSE: PSX) stock underperformance and operational missteps, the investor community is fed up with its strategy and leadership – even as it gives high marks to the Company’s collection of strong assets and enviable competitive positioning."

"It was a huge red flag...quite a lot of these prescriptions were junk...they were just bullshit...I mean, they were for the wrong indication...not even narcolepsy, not even cataplexy...they were like for sleeping disorders – a sleeping disorder is not narcolepsy, ok?."

"After years of Phillips 66's (NYSE: PS) stock underperformance and operational missteps, the investor community is fed up with its strategy and leadership - even as it gives high marks to the Company's collection of strong assets and enviable competitive positioning."

"After years of Phillips 66’s (NYSE: PS) stock underperformance and operational missteps, the investor community is fed up with its strategy and leadership – even as it gives high marks to the Company’s collection of strong assets and enviable competitive positioning."

"We believe this is truly a unique opportunity to unlock significant value in Hyundai Motor Group by taking the necessary steps to realign its equity value with the top-class business that the Founding Family and the leadership of the Group have built over the decades"

"MSCI's leverage ratio keeps rising and is at a decade high which significantly increases the risk to equity holders. At the current time, we believe it is a recipe for disaster that leverage is rising while client Retention Rate falls and competitive risks increase."

""Just So Happens" Mettler increased its EUR/CHF hedge for the first time ever ahead of the unexpected Swiss Franc revaluation. Thereafter, an audit committee member resigned, borrowing increased, and Mettler's EPS and guidance beat the Street on subsequent quarters."

"According to a PepsiCo manager with whom we spoke, the recently released “Off the Eaten Path” brand bag made with DNMR materials is also made from PLA compounds. Recent DNMR inventory increases in 1Q21 and 2Q21 may also have been related to its launch. — Footnote 25"

"management promised the transactions would be accretive, provide synergies that could be reinvested back in the brands and allow PepsiCo to “take to a whole new level our ‘Power of One’ program of bundled food and beverage offerings” — PepsiCo press release, 4/20/09"

"Trian Consumer Investments where Nelson Peltz served on the Board have: 1) Grown earnings per share (“EPS”) +780 basis points (“bps”) faster than the S&P 500 annually; and 2) Achieved total shareholder returns (“TSR”) of +880bps greater than the S&P 500 annually"

"A fourth KOL - a current Nevro consultant, recipient of significant payments from the company, and one of their highest volume KOL's - was nonetheless candid about reps being "an extension of your practice" and "steering" and "pushing" patients into stimulators."

"Trian believes the mindset and culture at State Street has prioritized growth (in AUCA, AUM and revenue) over profitability. The “land grab” mentality must transition to a focus on EPS growth, return on invested capital and maximizing total shareholder returns"

"“sitting on over $200 million of take or pay offtake agreements, and we had customers like PepsiCo, Nestlé, Bacardi, you know, expecting us to be able to grow our capacity, so we had to find a way to find a lot of cash fast.” — Stephen Croskrey, CEO (via CNBC)"

""So, we don't have competition -- it's not like we're grabbing market share. It's our market to create. So this is the what keeps me up at night. It's the question -- it's about how do we stay in control while we're growing fast." — Tim Herbert, Inspire's CEO"

"Despite owning 65% and controlling the majority of DTA's operating capacity, AMR claims it doesn't control the asset because "two reps must be present for business to be conducted and unanimous approval of both parities is needed for decisions to be taken"."

"P&G’s income statement has stalled since 2011, underperforming the peer average on virtually every line item including: sales growth (volume and organic growth), gross profit growth, gross margins, operating profit growth, operating margins and EPS growth"

"TASK is the only company among its peers that we could identify trying to sell investors on COVID-19 related expense adjustments to improve EBITDA and EPS. Analysts aren't asking any questions or pushing back on what we believe are aggressive adjustments."

"Oh, there were other sales directors like that, too, absolutely. What would happen is their sales reps would push back, and they would just move that sales rep to somewhere else. I'm not kidding. I saw that happen twice because of what they were doing."

"Considering that EPs are supremely confident in their ability to isolate both cardiac structures, we expect Convergent to be a massive commercial failure, ending up exactly like AtriCure’s previous attempts to popularize stand-alone surgical ablation."

"The same cast of characters that keeps popping up as lead investigators for Nevro’s studies, and as some of its highest volume implanters, also has a knack for topping its OpenPayments leaderboard, which appears to consist mostly of…speaking payments."

"It appears that PepsiCo views structural change as a sign of weakness, an admission of failure and an untenable break with past traditions. Trian views structural change as the best path forward to generate sustainable increases in shareholder value."

"As noted by Emory professor Dan McCarthy, Peloton's churn disclosure just "doesn't pass the smell test" as Peloton's 0.65% churn rate implies that the average customer keeps the digital subscription for 13 years! Can we take the under? — Dan McCarthy"

"We believe the board and management’s aggressive disregard for shareholder rights, consistent missteps, lack of a cogent strategy, and inability to deal with the legacy Miss Lime assets have kept the stock from trading closer to its intrinsic value."

"“Quantum Computing Creeps Closer to Reality.” — 1994 article in Scientific American. “Practical Quantum Computers Creep Closer to Reality” — 2011 article in IEEE Spectrum. “The Era of Quantum Computing Is Here.” — 2018 article in industry journal."

"The conduct appears to be an open secret inside the company, with ex-employees conveying skepticism at highly unusual prescription volumes and patterns in various territories, where reps were "finding" far more narcolepsy patients than plausible."

"Spruce Point views MSCI change of practices from providing margin targets to focusing on Adj. EPS as a major red flag. We later illustrate why we believe MSCI's margins are highly susceptible to potential manipulation through cost allocations."

"Spruce Point does not believe that this significant Non-GAAP add back is justified, and finds it concerning that management would choose to include it in Non-GAAP EPS just as it begins to face an increasingly threatening competitive landscape"

"The analyst community is overly bullish on Bunge and largely buys into management's new aspirational EPS target for 2030 despite its pervious guidance failures and underlying financial performance problems with Viterra and Bunge's operations."

"The 33% explant rate in the NANS paper is massively underreported and that the actual rate is “tremendous” and possibly 50-60%; that Nevro’s reps couldn’t get the devices to work again; that the device harms patients; that Nevro “just lies”."

"Once again, Amdocs appears to be taking the same steps which management allegedly took in the early 2000s to cover up potential evidence of business contraction: report consistent growth in Company headcount to corroborate claims of growth."

"Assuming that DuPont achieves 40 cents per share of cost-savings in 2015, Trian estimates that the core business must grow operating earnings by ~29% in Q2-Q4 2015 to meet its revised 2015 EPS guidance of $4.00 per share (low-end of range)"

"Assuming that DuPont achieves 40 cents per share of cost-savings in 2015, Trian estimates that the core business must grow operating earnings by ~29% in Q2-Q4 2015 to meet its revised 2015 EPS guidance of $4.00 per share (low-end of range)"

"We believe this share price decline sends two clear messages: 1) PepsiCo is worth more and would be run better as two separate companies; and 2) the Board and management's decision not to separate goes against shareholders' best interests."

"Assuming that DuPont achieves 40 cents per share of cost-savings in 2015, Trian estimates that the core business must grow operating earnings by ~29% in Q2-Q4 2015 to meet its revised 2015 EPS guidance of $4.00 per share (low-end of range)"

"They're going to focus on the Pepsi and Coke brands and that's going to be their first priority. So when you think about energy and even still brands, that is the last priority for Coke salesman or Pepsi salesman. — Former Monster Employee"

"This diligence gave us confidence that the priorities outlined in our presentation are actionable, can be achieved in partnership with the Board and management, and will strengthen PepsiCo’s competitive position and long-term performance."

"10/28/15: Q3'15 earnings miss on SSS, EPS headwinds due to higher D&A & margin dilution from franchisee acquisitions (labor, low sales, training). Guided to "single digit" net earnings growth in FY'15 and 20% in FY'16. Shares fell ~17%"

"As we shall show, danger due to pitolisant’s drug-drug interactions is inevitable and unavoidable, as it interacts strongly with medications like SSRI’s and other antidepressants that are widely prescribed for narcolepsy and cataplexy."

"More importantly, based on our extensive discussions with EPs, the field is overwhelmingly dubious of the entire idea of the Convergent procedure, mostly because they're not ignorant of all the research we've discussed to this point."

"PepsiCo should evaluate the potential refranchising of PBNA's operationally intensive bottling network - as its closest peer has and as PepsiCo itself has done in years past - to allow each business to focus on its core competencies."