Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

""They are very good at PR, and saying we're going to acquire this, this, this, but I don't know if there will be a breaking point where all these acquisitions are not going to play well together. It looks great on paper but when you go into practice, how is this going to operate beyond just numbers on a PR deck?" — Former employee"

"“results from sites in Russia...cannot be trusted.” — FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. “disturbing and it’s good to get it published...offshoring for financial reasons is bad because it raises risk of malfeasance.” — FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. “how much we can trust clinical evidence from these settings.” — Stanford professor."

"The Group's Security Department has developed and deployed an incident reporting tool enabling precise monitoring by region and brand across the Group, with the aim of strengthening security in hotels, improving team response to incidents, harmonizing crisis management protocols, and raising employee awareness. — Accor SA (p. 229)"

"Medtech companies which produce devices cleared under PMAs (as opposed to the 510(k) pathway) are generally deemed to be protected from competition by stronger barriers to entry and, naturally, tend to trade at relatively higher multiples. So why does Penumbra trade in line with producers of devices cleared under the PMA pathway?"

"Medtech companies which produce devices cleared under PMAs (as opposed to the 510(k) pathway) are generally deemed to be protected from competition by stronger barriers to entry and, naturally, tend to trade at relatively higher multiples. So why does Penumbra trade in line with producers of devices cleared under the PMA pathway?"

"Amazon, the most dominant retailer in the world, lists Califia Farms Oat Milk as its “Best Seller”. We believe Oatly has a poor product placement on the website and is being pushed farther down on search results according to our recent tracking. We observe that Oatly’s price per fluid ounce is $0.30 cents, or 3x Pacific Oat milk."

"To estimate 2017 revenues per program, we used the following data and estimates: 2017 revenues by school disclosed in company filings, 2017 top 15 programs by new student enrollment, Tuition data (credits to complete degree and cost per credit) obtained on schools websites where available, UNC enrollment data (from FOIA request)."

"Under the new M&A guidelines, the special committee could choose its own separate independent financial advisor to come up with unbiased valuation opinions if the committee is concerned about the independence of the target company's financial advisor, according to Shinpei Ochi, deputy director of Meti's corporate system division."

"In addition to paying out a higher percentage of Retail Sales than Avon, Herbalife's commission structure varies from Avon's in two critical ways: (i) Herbalife's royalties are "flat," whereas Avon's are "descending;" and (ii) Herbalife has a Production Bonus ("infinity bonus"), Avon only pays Recruiting Rewards three levels deep"

"On its FQ4 earnings call, Intuit management revealed that $50 million of Desktop revenue was pulled into FQ1-FQ3 and $60 million was pulled into FQ4, both from FQ1 2025. Thus, total QuickBooks software YoY revenue growth was between 166 to 563 basis points lower than reported (assuming equal allocation of the revenue to FQ1-FQ3)."

"THIS GENERAL INVESTMENT FUND RISK DISCLOSURE IS NOT COMPLETE. THE ABOVE SUMMARY IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF THE RISKS AND OTHER IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES INVOLVED IN INVESTING IN PSH AND IS SUBJECT TO THE MORE COMPLETE DISCLOSURES CONTAINED IN PERSHING SQUARE'S FORM ADV PART 2A AND IN PSH'S PROSPECTUS, WHICH MUST BE REVIEWED CAREFULLY."

"THIS GENERAL INVESTMENT FUND RISK DISCLOSURE IS NOT COMPLETE. THE ABOVE SUMMARY IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF THE RISKS AND OTHER IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES INVOLVED IN INVESTING IN PSH AND IS SUBJECT TO THE MORE COMPLETE DISCLOSURES CONTAINED IN PERSHING SQUARE'S FORM ADV PART 2A AND IN PSH'S PROSPECTUS, WHICH MUST BE REVIEWED CAREFULLY."

"Like I said, my impression is that it's down at least as often as the Ushio light source...they have similar issues...they have the exact same inspection issues, so the Lasertec Urashima source has all the same problems. The light source has its own set of weaknesses. I think that probably contributes to downtime on that machine."

""We filed our water wastewater rate case in Pennsylvania, as we mentioned resolution in mid-2019, and year-over-year we're expecting customer growth to be between 2% and 3%, and as Matt said, we've already hit the 2% and we've got more in the pipeline." — Aqua Announces 2018 Guidance, 8-K, Feb 27, 2018 and Q3 2018 Conference Call"

"So, is Ballroom doing well or not doing well? When I hear or learn that a claim is being filed in the German courts for the return of the purchase price you paid because Ballroom is not doing well, and yet you write under no. 11 of the response that Ballroom is doing well, then we are going to lose the claim. — Shareholder at AGM"

"“As others have merged into megacompanies, we are becoming more streamlined and focused. As others have broadened their portfolios, we are focusing on select areas of medical need. As others have widened their geographic footprints, we are concentrating on key major and emerging markets.” — James Cornelius, BMY 2009 Annual Report"

"With that considered, we have made the decision to issue an off-cycle RSU grant to partially top up total compensation, particularly for those in the most competitive job categories. We will also reprice a small portion of the total outstanding stock options, those that are far out of the money. — CFO Comments Q2'22 Earnings Call"

""Reading the NTSB report makes it clear that meaningful safety improvements require a comprehensive industry effort that brings together railcar and tank car manufacturers, railcar owners and lessors, and the railroad companies," said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw. — Norfolk Southern Press Release (Mar. 6, 2023)"

"“[M]any of the Distributors whom Defendants would expressly or impliedly characterize as solely ‘discount buyers’ are, in fact, pursuing the business opportunity.” — FTC v. Herbalife International of America, Inc., et al. (July 15, 2016). Case No.2:16-cv-05217, Complaint for Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief, at 28."

"We have selected candidates who have directly relevant experience and skill sets in areas that we believe would be of substantial value to the Board, including expertise in dollar store and broader retail operations, integration and restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, strategic transformation, and public company governance."

"The key point to note is that in the 2003 Annual Report, TRE began disclosing that it needed to conduct business through authorized intermediaries due to lack of proper licensing, while failing to disclose that in the fourth quarter of the year, it was winding down an existing WFOE that had the business scope to do the business."

"We observe that FND changed its language recently from “comparable customer transactions” to just “comparable transactions”. We are of the view that changes such as this are not made arbitrarily but could signal a shift in reporting. This unexplained change undermines our confidence that these transactions are really comparable."

"While our research has identified numerous important substantive issues with Ströer's business and financials, it is items such as these failures to disclose that raise critical questions such as: Are this person's interests really aligned with those of investors? Is this person likely to deal with investors in a forthright way?"

"A KOL provided particularly devastating color, alleging that “at least” two patients in their early 20’s developed diabetes while on the drug and dropped out; that neither was pre-diabetic nor obese; that the diabetes occurred rapidly, within a few months on drug; and that the diabetes is still uncontrolled, several years later."

"He also stated that investigators were kept in the dark and that Soleno was overly “secretive” – “we didn't see much of the data...it was presented more to use as one might...in a paper or presentation...a sort of group data...we didn't get feedback on our own individual participants...more secretive than they should have been.”"

"At the recommended doses, pitolisant does not prolong the QT interval. However, patients with moderate liver impairment, moderate and severe kidney impairment, and patients taking medications that affect the metabolism of pitolisant may have higher blood concentrations of pitolisant and a higher risk of QT interval prolongation."

"On Instagram, our primary platform, we have on average doubled our number of followers year over year since our launch and have a four-year follower growth rate of over 2,400%. Today, we have over half a million followers on Instagram, which is almost twice the number of followers of our nearest competitor. — FIGS IPO Prospectus"

"Hao said that since China stocks have listed on the US stock exchange, there have been similar cases. He thinks that Muddy Waters short sells only after serious investigation, and does not make fictitious reports. Otherwise, the goodwill, which is accumulated over many years, would be destroyed. "But the truth needs" — HAO Junbo"

"“Quantum technology is still at a very early stage. The quantum computers still do not have the same level of maturity as classical computers. It’s not that they are useless...” — Executive of a key IonQ partner; “No, it’s a free partnership.” — Executive of a key IonQ partner; “Right now, yes.” — Executive of a key IonQ partner"

""Hess is a company with great assets that I believe are not being valued appropriately in the market. I am excited not only to apply the lessons I have learned at Ultra to Hess’s operations in the Bakken, but also to help Hess achieve its potential and realize value for all stakeholders: shareholders and employees." — Mark Smith"

""And I hate to use the word brand there... Consumers don't want brands, they don't care about brands. They care about something else, values, stories, and messages, right? Just so happens you can a message around a brand. But at the end of the day, who cares about brands" — Bjorn Oste, The Pivotal Leader Interview, April 3, 2019"

""We entered the third quarter with a solid backlog and pipeline of opportunities. That said, we are not anticipating an increase in large order activity considering the conversion rates on our pipeline remain lower than historical levels as customers continue to be cautious in what remains an uncertain environment." — CFO, Q2'24"

"“In-transit inventory generally varies due to contractual terms, country of origin, transit times, international holidays, weather patterns and other factors, but approximately 25% of our inventory is in-transit, while roughly 75% is available for sale in our stores or at one of our four distribution centers.” — FND 10-K filings"

""Agrium's Board has, in our view, done little to ensure that shareowners in the company have the information they need to make informed decisions" — Credit Agricole / CLSA, 11/5/12; "Agrium's EBITDA targets can be met with acquisitions at any price at all, with no reference to return on capital" — Credit Agricole / CLSA, 11/5/12"

"“We’re going to have higher margins with the delivery of these cost synergies, and we haven’t quantified the benefits of any revenue synergies but we would clearly expect to be able to grow at higher rates over the longer term than we would independently”.... “And we see some very specific opportunities” — Amcor CEO, Aug 7, 2018"

"Agriculture is DuPont's most important business, representing ~40% of total segment revenue and ~47% of total segment PTOI excluding Performance Chemicals... It concerns us that Agriculture seemingly borrowed from 2014 to make DuPont's overall 2013 numbers. — Trian letter to DuPont's lead director, Alexander Cutler dated 2/10/14"

"“... Our clients have never asked us for hyper-local advertising, and we don’t see a need with a national product. Patch may be able to get some traction through AOL, but it’s really all about the reach and getting your brand out there. I don’t see this changing in the future....” — Senior advertising agency director, March 2012"

"“The Sponsor evaluated the effect of pitolisant on the QT interval in two studies (Studies P09-11 and P14-05) [...] Study P09-11 was a total QT (TQT) study that evaluated doses up to 120 mg (single dose). Study P14-05 was a single ascending dose (SAD) study that evaluated doses up to 240 mg.” — FDA CDER Clinical Review, Dec 2018"

"One of the consistent highlights for the business has been our working capital performance. And on a like-for-like basis, the working capital to sales ratio has improved by 30 basis points in the half to 10.4%. We will maintain our focus in this area to reduce this ratio further over time. — CFO Casamento, Feb 11, 2020 Conf Call"

"Holy shit. No... I have.. ho... I ... really? Dude, I swear to god I must live under a rock because I had no idea how much that goddamn thing is. That's stupid. But then the drug companies can write whatever they want, right? They can sell it for anything they want. That's unbelievable. — Physician and Harmony speaker in Alabama"

"Now, as pandemic-era spending dries up and district staffing costs have ballooned to their highest levels ever, Spruce Point believes that school districts across the country will face a major fiscal cliff, effectively ending the gravy train of federal funding that ed-tech companies have been milking for the past several years."

"WSP positions itself as an industry leader in ESG and has attracted numerous shareholders aligned with ESG investing. WSP cites its “AA” MSCI rating (MSCI itself a hypocritical ESG company we previously profiled(1)). An AA rating denotes that WSP has no major controversies. Does a whistleblower claim alleging tax evasion count?"

"Mirroring our concerns with FND's sharply declining workers per store, we find that among 40 stores recently opened since Dec 2022, at least 8 store managers have limited work history with the Company while others had no prior experience in the home improvement / flooring / tile industry according to their LinkedIn biographies."

"It appears that SMCI's auditors are applying more, not less, scrutiny to SMCI's inventory accounting assumptions. We note that the disclosure around auditor testing of its procedures has increased materially. Of particular concern, we observe that the auditor is now turning to data specialists to "recalculate historical rates.""

"We believe Stryker's 2018 acquisitions were abysmal. It spent $2,451 million on acquisitions (and recorded an additional $108 million for acquisition and integration related charges), which contributed $236 million of revenue. However, according to the proxy statement, the operating income contribution was negative -$3 million."

"Based on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Florida Department of Transportation, we see that 2023 was a spectacular contract award year, totaling 30 for a combined value of $275 million. However, this creates a difficult comparison for 2024 where 29 awards totaling $215 million were received or down -22% YoY."

"Since coming public in 2005, insider ownership has declined dramatically from heavy liquidations in almost every single year. Meanwhile, iRobot's diluted share count has increased ~3.0% per annum. The Company has announced two share repurchase programs of $25m and $50m in 2013 and 2014, yet has never repurchased a single share!"

"I would be most concerned about starting this medicine in someone that was pre-diabetic...the people that I'm the most concerned about are those borderline A1c patients that are obese and pre-diabetic...and I hesitate to start this medicine, and if I am, then I'm having a conversation about stopping it if they develop diabetes."

"A hotel representative confirmed that the hotel would keep the stay of Ukrainian children confidential from the press and any third parties, adding that "at the present moment, our head office is located on the territory of the Russian Federation, and there is no communication or exchange of information with the French office.""

"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"

"“At Ultra Petroleum, we have concentrated on creating a culture of operational discipline and efficiency. We focus relentlessly on costs, best practices, and constant benchmarking to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. This process is never done and requires constant vigilance.” — Mark Smith"

"On a periodic basis, management reviews the costs incurred to date and the estimated costs to complete for each project to determine whether the amount recognized as costs and anticipated profits in excess of billings is an accurate estimate of the amount that the Corporation has earned on its projects. — WSP 2022 Annual Report"

""After unification, 100% of your dividends have to be franked for shareholders to benefit. So, when you think of our shareholder returns policy... paying out at 60% over the last 8 years, that means 60% of our earnings have to be in Australia to have the capacity to keep on fully franking." — Peter Cunningham, CFO, 31 July 2024"

"Employee Experience and Employer Brand: At TaskUs, we hired approximately 12,000 new employees in 2019. Many of our larger competitors hire tens or even hundreds of thousands of people each year. To deliver to this number of hires many companies in our industry use "push" tactics like sign-on bonuses. — Draft Prospectus, p. 122"

"As explained last quarter, we have introduced a number of measures designed to mitigate the risk associated with a single-pit operation in a high rainfall area with deep levels of weathering. This places the mine at risk and could cause us to lose the pit for an extended period of time… — AKG Management, Q4 2016 conference call"

"「暗いフレーム、あるいは誤検知が発生します。光源の変動が原因です。......プラズマの物理学によって輝度がどうしても変動することになります。ウシオ製の光源では......プラズマは動き回る余裕があります。それが輝度の変動の原因になります。制御するのは難しい。一方のUrashimaはレーザー生成プラズマ方式で......それらに十分な出力を投入するのが難しい。結果としてプラズマが小さくなりがちです。それによって、装置の照度が不十分になってしまうことがあります。......ときには光と均一性が不十分なフレームが出てきます。フレーム隅々まで十分な輝度がなければ、暗い箇所が現れたりして、誤検知の原因になります」 — ウシオのフィールド・サービス・エンジニア"

""The merger also will allow the combined firm to issue shares to pursue potential acquisition targets. Having a single stock to make acquisitions is a ‘tool we didn’t have before....'" — BHP Director Malcolm Brinded when Royal Dutch Shell unified its DLC structure in June 2005 (while Brinded was a director at Royal Dutch Shell)"

"In our view it’s both beneficial for consumers to enter into what we think is strong relief rather than litigating every case to conclusion... when we can’t reach a good settlement we will not hesitate to litigate. — FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, FTC Press Event Regarding Herbalife International of America, Inc. (July 15, 2016)"

""...the goal has always been to build what I would characterize as a good business... In terms of how we get there, it's really in many ways the way that we've gotten from where we were, to the point we're at right now... that's probably the way we're going to operate the business." — Hugh F. Johnston, Disney CFO, February 2024"

"Procept generally recognizes systems revenue upon delivery to either the customer or distributor, which strikes us as relatively straight forward. However, we note that Procept disclosed a material weakness in its internal controls at IPO, and the Company's auditors consider systems revenue recognition a critical audit matter."