Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

"Samsara has a history of exorbitant cash burn. While the Company celebrated its positive CFO in its latest fiscal Q1 and Q2, we find that the result was primarily driven by exceptional changes in accounts receivable and inventories relative to previous six quarter results and ratios and are likely not sustainable."

"Management has cited a high return on capital over the past 10 years as an indication of their competence. Over a more relevant five-year time horizon, Phillips 66 has underperformed both refining and midstream peers, with the underperformance especially stark after adjusting for midstream's lower cost of capital."

"Spruce Point has serious concerns about DV’s treatment of the Zentrick deferred payment termination accounting. It recorded the lowest possible expense given its estimated range of $2.8 - $5.5 million in 2021. Yet, in early 2022 DV disclosed that it recorded a $5.6 million payment, above the high end of its range."

"Ancora will vote “AGAINST” Chair George S. Mayes, Jr., Director Javier Polit and Director Laurie A. Tucker at the 2025 Annual Meeting to send a message that the status quo is unacceptable in light of the significant value that has been destroyed and the time-sensitive opportunity currently in front of Forward Air."

"By utilizing the Company's network, leveraging new shipping partners, effectively pricing its premium offerings and densifying the network on a recapitalized balance sheet, potential suitors have an opportunity to more than 2.5x operating income at modest assumed growth rates and historical operating ratio levels."

"The average monthly GZ 1-1 revenue would be at most only Rmb 14.7 million, less than half of the Rmb 32.9+ million draw down needed to cover the difference between our low-end estimate of the deferred revenue’s Rmb ~75 million carrying value and the Rmb 42.1 million shown on the SAIC files as at December 31, 2016."

"He indicated Ginkgo’s foundry staff can’t deliver strains without babysitting and micromanaging; that staff are junior and inexperienced, resorting to simplistic high-throughput screens as a crutch, which doesn’t result in successful yeast strains; and that Ginkgo lacks “senior people” who can oversee the science."

"When we asked the same industry expert, who admittedly worked at a competitor, and was not interested in working for Cintas, to opine on industry pricing, he revealed that prices have generally gone down, but industry players have used more aggressive tactics such as pushing nebulous fees for loss and ruin higher."

"And the only option they have if they still want Zillow business is to join one of the 30 teams that kind of survive the exodus from the Zillow agents. And it'll be interesting to kind of see where it goes, but I think at the moment, those other 90% that were exited the Zillow program, they're obviously not happy."

"TransMedics not only seems to steer organs to “aggressive” centers, but that it explicitly appears to skip those unwilling to take it on the device, moving to the next “aggressive center” on their list until they land one – a clear indication, in our view, that organs are trafficked as a kickback for device usage."

"The CSRC demanded clarification on "Whether the online casual chess and card games mainly operated by PLTK involve gambling or gambling behavior, whether this transaction complies with the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, etc.""

""pathway to net zero emission by 2050 is very narrow" — IEA; "complete decarbonization of the global economy by 2050 is now conceivable only at the cost of unthinkable global economic retreat, or as a result of extraordinarily rapid transformations relying on near-miraculous technical advances" — Prof. Vaclav Smil"

"I've never had a management team suggest to me that their stock was fully valued. That just inherently highlights the disconnect between the investor mindset and the management. When investors see there's such an obvious opportunity to unlock value and management saying, 'Oh, we're fully valued.' — Stacy Nieuwoudt"

""We want to have co-tenants that are meaningful to us. So often times, we'll look at the home improvement chains or sporting goods stores where we believe we can share customers and siphon off some traffic from them. And with very few exceptions, we haven't gone off of that model." — CEO Conroy, Q3'22 Jan 27, 2022"

"We start with the customer in all deals and saying what does this do from that standpoint. But naturally, costs come out. Normally, we'll see gross margin fall to EBITDA. And within 1 year to 1.5 years after the acquisitions, they're highly accretive -- to our margins. — Evoqua CFO, CS Industrial Conf, Dec 2, 2022"

"On your second question, so about 21% of our revenue in Q4 was spent on inventory, on our IoT devices and on inventory. And so with a minus 3% free cash flow margin, our free cash flow margin sans dollars going out the door for inventory would have been positive 18%. — Samsara CFO Phillips, Q4 FY2023 Earnings Call"

""too many layers make you very averse to risk." — Ann Moore, CEO of Time Inc. (quoted in text). "You have low-hanging fruit that you will be able to benefit from in the first 12 months. Then you have things that require significant changes in the way you do your business." — Dieter Zetsche, CEO of DaimlerChrysler."

"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"

"「ファブ運営の経済条件の進化によって、ファブ環境でレチクルを活用するための当社の光学系とウェーハ検査の各ソリューションは、ますます魅力的になっています。つまり、極端紫外線の領域での当社の事業展開です。極端紫外線の領域でいえば、レチクルの90%以上は当社の装置を通っています。当社の設備投資と研究開発費をそのタイミングに合わせて加減しています。レチクル関連、つまり、極端紫外線関連を見てみると、私は年末に数字を合算するのですが、財務最高責任者として、思わず『えっ？！』と声をあげてしまう。レチクルの技術的な課題を克服するために、複数の製品分野にわたり、10億ドルも投入しているのです」 — ブレン・ヒギンズ (KLA財務最高責任者)"

"Kalamazoo, Michigan - June 25, 2018 - Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) announced today a definitive agreement to acquire SafeAir AG... The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018. — Timothy J. Scannell, Group President, MedSurg and Neurotechnology"

""[We] have decided to reshape our company and stay true to our strategy. We plan to simplify BHP Billiton's portfolio with a demerger and unlock value for shareholders as we focus even more on our largest businesses, reduce costs and improve productivity more quickly...." — Andrew Mackenzie, CEO, February 18, 2014"

"Let me make one comment on the Speedway deal relative to that is we still believe we're going to get the benefit of integration. That's not lost because of the supply agreement that we have and the fact that we'll continue to be using our logistics assets. — Mike Hennigan, CEO of Marathon Petroleum, August 3, 2020"

"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"

"Effective January 1, 2017, the Medicare allowable for stationary oxygen rentals (E1390) ranges from $66.53 to $77.16 per month and the OGPE rentals (E1392) ranges from $36.14 to $41.91 per month. These are the two primary codes that we bill to Medicare and other payors for our oxygen product rentals. — Inogen 10-K"

""So pricing has essentially been flat for us. It's still a tough pricing environment. Although with leading -- many leading brands with a 50% share, we tend to be well positioned to put them in place if needed. So pricing, again, has tended to be pretty flat." — Ronald Lombardi, CEO, Q2 2020 Call, November 1, 2019"

"'Yahoo's asking for restrictions without offering information,' said a sector banker. 'An NDA is a two-way promise. The buyer agrees not to talk, and the seller agrees to disclose private information.' However in this case according to the banker, 'There's no quid pro quo' for Yahoo bidders. — CTFN, March 17, 2016"

"Und unser CO und Unternehmensgründer Udo Müller ist jemand, der vor - ich glaube 25 Jahren - angefangen hat, den Außenwerbemarkt zu konsolidieren. Er ist einfach ein begnadeter Deal-Maker und für ihn ist eigentlich jede Woche, in der er keine Firma kauft oder einen Deal machen kann, eine verlorene Woche. — C. Sch."

"there is no way the SEC isn't going to demand a host of disclosures and explanations for why a $1bn PIPE, that no one knows who is participating in, is structured in such a manner that smacks of taking advantage of retail investors. I would be shocked if the PIPE survives as is. — A former SEC enforcement attorney"

"It is a privilege to be working alongside the Nova team who bring such deep and diverse experience and a passion so rarely found. I am very keen and humbled to be working with them to develop and convert the Estelle project, with all its opportunities, into our vision of a tier one gold producer. — Richard Beazley"

"“you just have to have that separation of church and state. And if you don't, you're setting yourself up for a regulatory nightmare. I've done buy-and-build drugs, I've done patches, I've done devices, I mean, it has to be segregated, and they're not doing it.” — Ex-field reimbursement manager working with Harmony"

"The Company performed its annual impairment testing of goodwill based on the December 31, 2021 balances, and, in all cases, the recoverable amounts exceeded their respective carrying values including goodwill; therefore, goodwill was not considered to be impaired as at March 31, 2022 — Saputo FY 2022 Annual Report"

"Our observations about challenges with the Neurio acquisitions and financial reporting problems are mirrored by some comments made by Neurio Technology’s former VP of Finance and Administration who commented there were accounting system conversion issues and “continual legacy matters with finance and operations”."

"GRP asset turns are below the most relevant peers: Novelis, Constellium and Kaiser Aluminum. In fact, GRP is in-line with UACJ (an asset-heavy Japanese company). Based on the 2016 average turns of 2.98 (excluding UACJ), GRP's is capable of supporting ~$6.5 billion of sales, or 34% more than were generated in 2016"

"Spruce Point believes that the circumstances facing Premier are very similar: while the sell side believes that Premier’s above-market shareback rates can last indefinitely into the future, Spruce Point finds evidence that near-term catalysts could force Company economics back in-line with the rest of the market."

"Spruce Point finds additional evidence that insiders are extracting more value on easier terms than before from shareholders. For example, equity vesting was reduced from four to three years. Restricted stock units (RSUs) removed any performance condition which were previously linked to milestones such as an IPO."

"Our metric of fully loaded customer acquisition costs as a percent of online revenue has barely declined from its Q4 2021 peak and remains materially above 2020 levels. In addition, we believe that calculating CAC based on net subscribers provides a useful reference point for a business like HIMS with high churn."

"Spruce Point would not be surprised if management-defined KPIs such as "core growth" are used by auditors to test goodwill. We are concerned that superficially strong core growth, supported by advantageous accounting machinations, may be giving management an excuse to delay seemingly-overdue goodwill impairments."

"If conscious of the full extent of the revenue headwinds of which management appeared to be aware, would Advent have still been willing to purchase Forescout for $33 per share, just one quarter after the stock fell as low as ~$25 after a posting a top-line miss similar to what it would have posted on the Q4 call?"

"If conscious of the full extent of the revenue headwinds of which management appeared to be aware, would Advent have still been willing to purchase Forescout for $33 per share, just one quarter after the stock fell as low as ~$25 after a posting a top-line miss similar to what it would have posted on the Q4 call?"

"Novartis cell and gene therapy (cont’d): Views the machine as a “failed purchase” and would have sent it back if they could; has no value proposition versus traditional flow cytometers that are a fraction of the price and have lower operating costs, can run more assays, and have higher throughput and better data."

"Former employees detailed various hardware and software problems: software was "constantly updated," confusing and throwing off users; blindsided customers had to grapple with bugs, delayed experiments, and re-learning how the equipment functions; some users just stopped updating the software – "wasn't worth it.""

"With supply chain, I would say the fact that certain components and parts are delayed, and the costs have increased. I think that's gonna have an impact on Stryker. Also if they do not consolidate their facilities and redundancies, it's gonna be a heavy cost for going forward as they continue to grow and acquire."

"We and other BHP shareholders now look to current management, with appropriate oversight from the BHP Board, to provide real leadership to actively address BHP's underperformance issues with the kinds of positive and constructive proposals from management which have been conspicuously absent so far in this debate"

"To summarise, TFS’s mark-to-model approach to biological asset valuations and revenue recognition policies allow it to leverage real capital. Accordingly, we believe that the only factor that would prevent this business from being a Ponzi scheme is whether or not the underlying products are a feasible investment."

"Optically, PGNY would like investors to believe that it is achieving significant operating leverage. In reality, the largest contributor to its operating leverage story has been its aggressive use of stock-based compensation (SBC). Netting out the benefit of SBC uncovers that PGNY’s EBITDA margins are in decline."

"Not only has Heska had challenges growing organically, but the Company's profit margins have declined materially since peaking in 2017. Both absolute margins and margin expansion since 2019 trail IDEXX Labs by a wide margin. Investors should be concerned that margins are not expected to improve for several years."

"In other words, management's action shows that when it's our money, it needs to be held conservatively and reserved for "strategic flexibility." But when it's their money, they don't need so much rainy day cash and they'd like to see the balance sheet working harder to generate the maximum return on their equity."

"I would say I would hold off because I'm telling you, let's just hold off until after — let's think about a diet restriction. Let's think about increased exercise. Let's think about some of the ways you can get this weight off. That's an issue. Because we don't think, the hyperphagia, it didn't make a difference."

"In addition, Herbalife’s SEC filings misleadingly report its sales-based royalties and commissions as an expense called “China Sales Employees” in SG&A (not as Royalty Overrides, as it does for other markets), even though China commissions are calculated using the same sales-based royalty percentages as elsewhere"

"Conclusion: CSF histamine and tele-methylhistamine did not significantly differ between patients with narcolepsy-cataplexy and other etiologies of non-hypocretin-1 deficient central hypersomnias; these measurements, therefore, are not useful in assessing the etiology or severity of centrally mediated hypersomnia."

"Yes. Given the allegations regarding freeXmedia and maybe to avoid allegations in the future, is there a scenario that Ströer Media buys further assets potentially from Media Ventures going forward? And has there been another potential issue in the past with — Marcus Diebel JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division"

"In 2015, they were willing to come in with the NFL and take our data as sort of a loss leader to acquire other rights... This time Sportradar did have a harder time getting there on the economics at the end of the day. Genius has some ad tech that may have helped them justify the difference. — NFL Senior Employee"

"During settlement talks in Washington, D.C., von Mayrhauser sat across from Yu. ‘I remember his saying, ‘You’re going to lose, no Western company can win in Beijing. Even if you win, you’ll only get $5,000,’’ Von Mayrhauser says. ‘That pretty much ended the meeting.’’ — BloombergBusinessweek Magazine, May 5, 2011"

""proven track records of operational efficiency, complementary service territories and strong regulatory compliance." — WTRG Deal Announcement; "a strong system of internal governance and controls," and "a significant emphasis on value added through in-house asset management." — SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners"

"At BoxWorks...Our major announcement was the unveiling of Box Skills and Box Graph, 2 new ways we're bringing machine learning and AI to content in Box. We believe AI and machine learning will fundamentally change how we manage, secure and collaborate on content in the enterprise. — CEO Aaron Levie, November 2017"

"“I would like to touch on the management fee reduction we announced in December. First of all, the Erie Indemnity Company Board of Directors sees the management fee as a tool to balance the interest of the shareholders, of the Erie Indemnity Company with the policyholders of the exchange.” — Former ERIE President"

"Henan Ruili appears to be ANTA's largest purportedly third-party supplier. According to ANTA's 2018 annual report, its largest supplier was 3.5% of purchases. Applying the 3.5% to ANTA's RMB 11.4 billion 2018 cost of sales (which should be substantially all, but not exclusively purchases) equals ~RMB 400 million."

"Land and vacant buildings have been valued using the direct comparison method to arrive at the value of the property in its existing state. A comparison was performed with other similarly located and zoned plots of land or buildings that are currently on the market. — CPI PG 2022 Annual Management Report, Pg.126."

""My material costs per aligner are about $5 to $6 and when I factor in labor, I am printing aligners for approximately $10. As my staff gets more efficient, the cost will go lower. 3D printers are getting faster and cheaper as well, so a new investment there will eventually lower the cost as well." — Orthodontist"

"I think what was also interesting about the most recent quarters, we had a much more balanced growth across most of the categories with the exception of our wood business, which is still getting very heavily cannibalized by rigid core vinyl, water-resistant laminate. — Lang, Morgan Stanley Conference, Dec 2, 2020"