Callouts & quotes from 26,677+ activist slides

"We believe the Board conducted an incomplete analysis of Dr. Beckerle’s independence and a consideration of all the facts suggests Dr. Beckerle is clearly not independent"

"We question why the Board, including new members added between 2018 – 2021, chose to overlook problematic conflicts and keep highly-interconnected directors on the Board?"

"Under Mr. Gallogly's leadership, LyondellBasell created tremendous value for its shareholders and significantly outperformed both the chemicals and broader market indices"

"TWX appears to have a more conservative financial policy and leverage targets than many of its competitors in the media sector (both diversified media and cable credits)."

"Four of the agencies gave the unsolicited opinion that Momo has a reputation as a (sex) cam site. We believe that this has directly contributed to Momo’s advertising woes"

"While Q1 EPS was above consensus, management has beaten Q1 consensus two out of the last three years, while ultimately missing Fiscal Year guidance in each of those years"

"Caesarstone has also sold the 13mm quartz in North America before in some of the same colour ranges as the Transform product but as bathroom splashbacks, not countertops."

"We believe in-home communication compatible Cardiac Devices should be recalled, either voluntarily by STJ or mandatorily by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA")."

"Perhaps most shocking about STJ's lack of security is that it has distributed hundreds of thousands of devices that are apparently so easily analyzed for vulnerabilities."

"Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) needs bold solutions to reverse a decade of underperformance, including simplifying an inefficient structure and restoring management credibility."

"Marathon has excelled since its board carried out a series of crucial changes that we recommended, resulting in a ~150% relative outperformance by Marathon's share price."

"The subsequent proxy statements do not state the Olivier was also the Head of Process Analytics, but rather state his role as Head of Global Sales, Service and Marketing."

"In contrast to Vivendi's poor stewardship and frayed relationships, Elliott's Independent Nominees will prioritise improving relationships with regulators and authorities"

"While Q1 EPS was above consensus, management has beaten Q1 consensus two out of the last three years, while ultimately missing Fiscal Year guidance in each of those years"

"If the synergies were apparent, you would see them in the financial statements. The stock would be trading better. And to put it bluntly, we'd be picking on someone else."

"Spruce Point finds evidence Porch has a promoted partnership with Cinch. We called Cinch to verify its partnership with Porch, but customer service had never heard of it."

"Many contracts were either bid or executed poorly, and it led to significant cost overruns. The result was a loss of investor confidence, with the stock falling below $4."

"Nidec's auditor probably offers little safeguard against misleading accounts - in our opinion, Nidec's auditor is to audit failures what Michael Jordan was to basketball."

"Ever since the deal has closed, Stryker has walked back revenue growth targets for Wright, and now talks about Wright as growing revenues 6%, or 50% lower than projected."

"At the very onset of merger, management was clear that both businesses were “quite different” and would function as two separate business units on two separate platforms."

"Similarweb’s data notably shows that Terminix is increasing paid search. This appears consistent with our increased observance of more sponsored activity on social media."

"The GAAP reporting understates Core's foreign exposure because when Core sends fluids from a well in offshore Angola to its labs in Houston, it counts it as U.S. revenue."

"While a 1,000 foot core from deepwater offshore West Africa is a $2-$3 million opportunity, a similar core from North American shale generates only one-tenth the revenue."

"We adjust the book value down by the difference between the take-private price and the ~$10 price it traded at prior to the take-out, reducing book value by $251 million."

"BEKE claimed 21,000 agents in Shanghai, while SAIC data for its two Shanghai brokerage subsidiaries show only 9,996 employees and 199 employees in its other subsidiaries."

"In reality, the 1st Class Medical / Inogen scheme is operated by Gary Luckner who was recently sentenced to 90 months in prison for running a fraudulent online operation."

"PGNY has often stated that there is “nobody” that is competitive with them. We find these claims to be highly questionable, as numerous credible competitors have emerged."

"In the market for 25 years, WINFertility leads PGNY in clients and lives and has exceptionally strong payer relationships, which differentiates it from other competitors."

"Weis Markets is the most expensive U.S. supermarket masking -1-2% organic decline with aggressive accounting and shrinking disclosures; Spruce Point sees 45-65% downside."

"By making this change, it will reduce its accounts receivable outstanding, artificially enhance its operating cash flow, and make its cash conversion cycle appear better."

"Multiple current employees at Joyn as well as ex-employees of Ginkgo described the day-to-operation as more like a subsidiary of Ginkgo or captive team within the company"

"The use of “Robots” – capitalized, even – is consistent with Ginkgo’s compulsion to mystify and hype the mundane, while even Hamilton refers to them as merely “machines.”"

"PBH removed its principal customers disclosure and commentary on its ability to capitalize on “a number of important strategic opportunities” from its 2020 Annual Report."

"Online retailers have a clear advantage over suppliers such as PBH. Retailers can select the order of product offerings on their sites, driving traffic to its own brands."

"PBH removed its principal customers disclosure and commentary on its ability to capitalize on “a number of important strategic opportunities” from its 2020 Annual Report."

"Despite all the excessive optimism that MGPI is a booming whiskey/bourbon producer, we point out that its net food grade alcohol sales growth has been recently declining."

"MDC Partners reported frequent bank overdrafts before shares collapsed, and an SEC investigation commenced. Its CEO and Chief Accounting Officer were ultimately replaced."

"It appears that Solvency II did not anticipate negative bond yields, as holding debt with locked in negative yields can’t possibly be safer than selling and holding cash."

"We estimate that this defection and competition will decrease 2022E revenue by 35% and levered free cash flow by 80%, while net leverage should balloon to more than 8.0x."

"We find it strange that Heska only acquired a majority stake in Biotech Labs. If the company and market opportunity are as promising as Heska claims, why not buy control?"

"Inexplicably, the board declined to retain this consultant (or any other consultant of comparable reputation and quality) to pursue this path to create shareholder value."

"The biggest recent change is that revenue is no longer reduced by estimated amounts due to its credit card partner. This could be a lever used to inflate current revenue."

"Our thesis remains unchanged: that ONP is a fraud and thus we maintain our “Strong Sell” rating in light of the following items we detailed in our initial research report"

"We believe the typical distributor earns less than $100 per year before expenses. Only the top ~0.1% of Herbalife distributors earn enough to “achieve financial freedom.”"

"According to Pereira, Tim Smith demanded he give up 30% of his compensation to the "Bainbridge Five", a group of insiders who essentially maintain control of the Company."

"Feb 2, 2016: Sole shareholder Stephanus Janke provides long-time Vitek-associated attorney Tomáš Rybár the authority to make all decisions for Marc Gilbert International."

"It is unclear what Vitek actually paid for Hull 607, but the intention seems to have been for it to cost double the €6.2 million deposit amount – i.e., for €12.4 million."

"BUR also misleads investors about the egregiousness of its fair value accounting by very cleverly conflating two distinct concepts: Realized Gains and Net Realized Gains."

"「トロフィーは誰も出入りしないキュービクルに置いてあります。当社としては騒いだりするような出来事ではありません。PRのためにニュースリリースを出しますが、社内では特に話題になっていません。ところで、今の時代においては、インテルは決して最先端な企業ではありません。したがって、インテルが賞をばらまいても、誰も＜中略＞。全く価値のないものです」"

"Spruce Point notes that even retail investors have grown tired of management's promotional attitude and penchant for over-promising and under-delivering on lofty targets."

"Part 1. TransMedics National OCS Program (NOP): an unsustainable, anti-competitive scheme based on what we believe to be coercive tying, price extortion, and retaliation."

"The CEO’s denial was absolute and unambiguous: "the allegations of anticompetitive business practices are unfounded...none of these actions are practiced by TransMedics.""

"Some livers were refused on cases I was on because they took too long from incision to getting the liver out or they took too long between cross-clamp and reconstruction."

"Some livers were refused on cases I was on because they took too long from incision to getting the liver out or they took too long between cross-clamp and reconstruction."

"Vanderbilt indicated that TransMedics “absolutely” has no value proposition, with an exodus from the device among the top centers and those who participated in its trials"

"The combined experience of our nominees and our proposed management team can take Norfolk Southern from worst to first, but it requires replacing a majority of the Board."

"He may be nominally independent, but Mr. Mongeau has repeatedly shown that he is not capable of advocating for shareholders' interests when they conflict with management."

"The combined experience of our nominees and our proposed management team can take Norfolk Southern from worst to first, but it requires replacing a majority of the Board."

"This gives management a strong incentive to be inefficient users of capital, as any dollar shifted from operating expense to capex has a direct benefit to key executives."

"Significant Valuation demonstrated by market value of IEP's public subsidiaries and Holding Company interest in Funds and book value or market comparables of other assets"