Contrarian Corpus
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Callouts & quotes from 26,677+ activist slides

Every emphasised callout and every pulled quote, extracted slide-by-slide. Search by keyword, filter by slide type or by source.

Showing 3061–3120 of 26,677
callout villain critique

"The ex-employee expressed “shock” that anyone took these organs: “I’ve had a lot of organs that were refused by the initial center...’We actually don’t want it’...that usually boiled down to withdrawal time...or the pathology results”."

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 236
callout scqa question

"If the new streaming platforms are trying to "expand the TAM" by lowering total costs, then the subscription services would need to be priced at a *discount* to the current hardware cost ($17 / month for PC, and $7 / month for console)"

Sony Corporation · 6758.T Third Point · p. 65
callout precedent table

"Following the spin-off of beverages and creation of a pure-play confectionary business in 2007, Cadbury increased its 2010 operating profit margin to a level 400 bps above what Wall Street analysts had forecast prior to the separation."

PepsiCo, Inc. · PEP Trian Partners · p. 31
callout villain critique

"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."

Harmony Biosciences Holdings · HRMY Scorpion Capital · p. 139
callout other

"The latest installment of Elliott's Streamline66 podcast features Michael Heim, who has a long record of leadership in the energy industry as a founder of Targa Resources, one of the most successful Permian-focused midstream operators."

Phillips 66 · PSX Elliott Management · p. 14
callout villain critique

"The conclusions in the 60-page report were received were damning and we interpret them as indicating that the claims are fraudulent with red flags, discrepancies, contradictions, and omissions that suggest an intent to mislead the FDA."

Harmony Biosciences Holdings · HRMY Scorpion Capital · p. 308
callout section divider

"However, we believe this arbitrage is firstly unsustainable and secondly about to fall apart, because our findings imply that IIPR will in fact have to finance the 2020 dividend from capital raises or reduce the dividend substantially."

callout other

"Accordingly, if the alleged exploitation of minors were shown to be linked to a broader organized pattern directed against civilians from occupied territory, these categories could become relevant as a matter of legal characterization."

Accor SA · AC Grizzly Research · p. 38
callout villain critique

"First, it was reported by Jining Daily that according to [Shandong Province] Jining City Rencheng District local finance regulator in February 2017, both Tangren Capital and Taihe Capital did not obtain business operating certificates."

GSX Techedu Inc. · GSX Grizzly Research · p. 50
callout peer gap

"As we’ve demonstrated, Nuvei’s revenue is low quality (already being restated) and growth has come from inorganic acquisitions and higher risk (and margin) business which will we believe will revert towards lower margin in the future."

Nuvei Corp · NVEI Spruce Point Capital · p. 115
callout other

"Our indicative analysis suggests FIGS' SOM could be more than 50% smaller than our calculation of its oft-quoted TAM. Thus, FIGS' 2025 revenue objective of $1 billion could imply as high as 50% market share, which we find unrealistic."

FIGS, Inc. · FIGS Spruce Point Capital · p. 36
callout villain critique

"WTRG's appears to be shifting its discussion in references to unit customer additions to its business from "customer connections", to "equivalent dwelling units", and finally "equivalent retail customers or equivalent dwelling units"."

Essential Utilities, Inc. · WTRG Spruce Point Capital · p. 60
callout comparison table

"Spruce Point acknowledges that Carvana has been cited as a short, mostly for the fundamental challenges facing the Company. We also acknowledge that some elements of Carvana's questionable financing have been identified by the market."

Carvana Co. · CVNA Spruce Point Capital · p. 17
callout peer gap

"An efficient “low-cost” miner should be among the best in generating operating cash flow from its fleet. Riot screens as the worst among its closest peers while also among the worst when it comes to share dilution though ATM issuance."

Riot Platforms, Inc. · RIOT Kerrisdale Capital · p. 9
callout precedent table

"ERIE's stock performance suffered a significant 25% decline in the latter half of 2002, primarily driven by investor concerns and subsequent reaction to the Company's announcement of a management fee reduction to 24% in December 2002."

Erie Indemnity Company · ERIE Spruce Point Capital · p. 33
callout sop buildup

"Given that over four-fifths of Capricorn's net asset value is comprised of cash and near-term contingent receivables, the terms of the Proposed Merger imply that Tullow is paying nothing for Capricorn's Western Desert assets in Egypt."

Capricorn Energy PLC · CNE Palliser Capital · p. 3
callout process diagram

"Motive Force is also the name of the ANTA ListCo BVI company at the time of the IPO (see prospectus pg. 20, et alia) and which later also produced two notable Fila subsidiaries, Motive Force Singapore and Motive Force E-commerce (HK)."

ANTA Sports Products · 2020.HK Muddy Waters · p. 19
callout demand list

"Adopt an improved equity compensation and incentive scheme based on clear and transparent KPIs that are disclosed to investors (e.g. ROE, ROIC, operating profit, operating profit margin, debt to EBITDA and/or total shareholder return)"

Keisei Electric Railway · 9009 Palliser Capital · p. 43
callout transition

"Bob Evans has targeted a 20%+ ROI on the capital expended on its Farm Fresh remodels and hopes to drive carryout and bakery sales to 25% of sales by Fiscal 2018, from 11% of sales in Fiscal 2013, for a $300 million market opportunity."

callout villain critique

"In perhaps a classic case of “when genius failed,” their Midas touch as legendary investors has failed to translate to cleantech and EV batteries, where their actual track record is marked by a decade of high-profile scandals and duds"

QuantumScape · QS Scorpion Capital · p. 169
callout villain critique

"If it takes a day on a superconducting quantum computer to simulate some protein, if all else being equal, which is the caveat, if you did that on a trapped ion computer running 1000 times slower, that's 1000 days, that's three years."

IonQ Inc. · IONQ Scorpion Capital · p. 128
callout demand list

"At or around the current valuation, we believe Match should be using 75% or more of its free cash flow, plus some or all of the approximately $900 million of available capacity under its 3.0x net leverage target, to repurchase shares."

Match Group, Inc. · MTCH Starboard Value · p. 5
callout other

"Spruce Point called a few stores near Taylor Swift concert venues and asked if they had seen demand for boots and apparel increase when she was in town. Ten out of fifteen stores that were called reported consumer interest and demand."

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. · BOOT Spruce Point Capital · p. 69
callout other

"We therefore believe the primary reason SOFI has grown this portfolio so aggressively is because the Day 1 gains are the single largest source of recurring paper income available to management on terms that satisfy the comp structure."

SoFi Technologies, Inc. · SOFI Muddy Waters · p. 10
callout other

"The IP address 113.8.150.94 was one of the top IPs used on YY during the lockdown period. Over a 13-day period starting January 24, our data monitoring tools recorded 1,166 PUs on this IP address who made 25,545 discrete transactions."

Joyy Inc. · YY Muddy Waters · p. 38
callout nominee bio

"Ancora believes Mr. Wolf's extensive leadership experience, together with his management and financial experience, will enable him to provide the Company with valuable executive insights will make him a valuable addition to the Board."

callout villain critique

"Peng Qingqi was recognized in a 2011 media report as the Vice President at ANTA Capital, 福建安踏投资有限公司. ANTA Capital is privately held by the big five founders of Anta: Ding Shizhong, Ding Shijia, Lai Shixian, Wu Yonghua, and Wang Wenmo."

callout ceo quote

"Warning: Oatly’s Gross Margin is overstated because it fails to include outbound shipping and handling costs. After a review of many public companies in the dairy, frozen and packaged foods space, we find this to be industry standard."

Oatly Group AB · OTLY Spruce Point Capital · p. 60
callout appendix data

"The leaked information could lead to targeted attacks and reveal sensitive details about the user\device such as current location using Wi-Fi signals triangulation, device model\version for targeting specific exploitation methods etc."

NQ Mobile Inc. · NQ Muddy Waters · p. 74
callout other

"The shared “art” value is the same as what APP is using to track the user in the Zynga game, presenting both an observable phenomenon of cross-application use (Safari and a Zynga mobile game) as well as the likely technical component."

AppLovin Corporation · APP Muddy Waters · p. 12
callout kpi overview

"Following declines in same-store sales and profitability in 2001 and 2002, Management has improved operations through product innovation, capital discipline and strong execution. As a result, the Company's profitability has increased."

McDonald's Corporation · MCD Pershing Square · p. 7
callout villain critique

"HIMS has experienced significant turnover since its SPAC transaction in late 2020. Of particular concern, the heaviest turnover has come from executives with medical backgrounds or those focused on new product expansion opportunities."

Hims & Hers Health, Inc. · HIMS Spruce Point Capital · p. 100
callout villain critique

"We find it interesting that Amdocs not only tends to hire from a pool of "connected insiders," but that it has gone so far as to bring former directors and executives out of retirement to fill roles rather than seek capable outsiders."

Amdocs Limited · DOX Spruce Point Capital · p. 88
callout section divider

"Throughout the report, Spruce Point will lay out in detail the severe financial stress in Saputo's business but we also need to address the long-term structural issues within their business and industry from a qualitative perspective."

Saputo Inc. · TSX:SAP Spruce Point Capital · p. 18
callout villain critique

"The fact that the Board is averting its eyes from these risks raises questions about whether the Board’s priorities are aligned with those of shareholders – questions that take on greater urgency upon further examination of the Board."

Mitek Systems, Inc. · MITK Elliott Management · p. 2
callout villain critique

"We note that the engineer appeared nervous at times while answering our questions, suggesting to us a coordinated attempt between Lasertec and its key customers to conceal that the "new" A300/Urashima announcement is essentially fake."

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 17
callout demand list

"This target represents the level of margin expansion we would expect any company to strive to achieve in the normal course of business, not the result of a publicly announced Operating Review that took almost eight months to complete."

eBay Inc. · EBAY Starboard Value · p. 4
callout villain critique

"APPS CEO claims to have neither the means nor desire to look at other companies' user data, but the evidence in its code indicates the opposite – APP has the means and is engaging in collecting 3P platforms data to construct its PIGs."

AppLovin · APP Muddy Waters · p. 12
callout ceo quote

"Management has made numerous excuses for challenges in Argentina over the past decade. However, now that Bunge is extremely optimistic about improvements there from the Viterra acquisition, they won't be providing revenue attribution."

Bunge Global SA · BG Spruce Point Capital · p. 34
callout ceo quote

"REZI started talking about adjacent category expansion more prominently in 2023 by focusing on Pro and Residential AV, along with Data Communications. Combined, REZI claimed sales were over $500 million in 2022, up 20% year-over-year."

Resideo Technologies, Inc. · REZI Spruce Point Capital · p. 64
callout appendix disclosure

"Starboard believes the Series A Financing has no bona fide business purpose given the Issuer's substantial cash balance and was done solely to entrench the Board and "buy the vote" ahead of a potential election contest with Starboard."

Box, Inc. · BOX Starboard Value · p. 19
callout demand list

"Starboard hereby demands the right to inspect and copy the Books and Records of the Company described in the Appendix, as they are reasonably related to Starboard's interest in the Company and suspected lack of oversight by the Board."

Box, Inc. · BOX Starboard Value · p. 34
callout other

"We expect a substantial re-rating lower in the share price once investors see that revenue programs are disappearing, and critically analyze the quality of the Company’s earnings and its valuation adjusted for significant liabilities."

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. · AJRD Spruce Point Capital · p. 48
callout villain critique

"We observe a recent increase of insiders enacting 10b5-1 stock sale programs. Notably the former CFO and Chief Accounting Officer have both enacted two programs that overlapped which we view as a more aggressive manner to sell shares."

Clear Secure, Inc. · YOU Spruce Point Capital · p. 72
callout ceo quote

"Oasis interactions with Kao’s IR team and competitors suggest the doubling of SKUs across the Group over the past decade and poor focus on inventory velocity probably drove around 200-300bps of consolidated gross margin erosion alone."

Kao Corporation · 4452.JP Oasis Management · p. 78
callout section divider

"These high-volume users may allegedly be under scrutiny as part of multiple investigations by federal and states authorities and agencies, as well as by prominent news outlets, indicating the precarious nature of TransMedics business."

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 109
callout villain critique

"They always wanted to get people to accept the organ right away, and that is what it boiled down to. Get it on the machine, and everything else was questionable where they’re like, it kind of looks okay, but I want to see how it does."

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 237
callout kpi overview

"Sony is the largest gaming platform in the world by revenue (roughly 2x the size of closest console competitors Nintendo and Microsoft) and well-positioned to benefit from rapid growth in consumer engagement and spending going forward"

Sony Corporation · 6758.T Third Point · p. 49
callout villain critique

"I do believe it was slightly manipulated...Off-label, certainly people could use it...you’re completely right. If this is really such a good drug, people can use diazoxide and suspension exactly the same way for pennies on the dollar."

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 207
callout villain critique

"Unique to China, however, Herbalife does not deduct its “[c]ompensation to China sales employees and service fees to China licensed business providers” to derive China Contribution Margin (and, instead, includes that expense in SG&A)."

Herbalife Ltd. · HLF Pershing Square · p. 42
callout other

"As even more evidence that the asserted plasma levels are underestimated, we note a 2011 PK study (P11-3) of pitolisant in conjunction with a CYP2D6 inhibitor called paroxetine, in order to assess the effect of drug-drug interactions."

Harmony Biosciences Holdings · HRMY Scorpion Capital · p. 124
callout ceo quote

"We find it concerning that Rollins modified its Critical Audit Matter language in its recent 10-K, replaced its auditor, and is making defensive statements that its accruals are accurate and complete in response to recent questioning."

Rollins Inc. · ROL Spruce Point Capital · p. 41
callout villain critique

"CPI Hotels' 2017 financials state that it has a payable to CPI PG subsidiary ORCO Property Group (since renamed CPI FIM) that was assigned by a related party (almost certainly Vitek) for "remuneration for assignment of receivables...""

callout sop buildup

"As a result of the acquisition, Americas revenue segment jumped from roughly 37% of total revenues to 53% of total revenues immediately after the Inteliquent acquisition and has continued to grow to over 62% of Sinch's total revenues."

Sinch AB · SINCH Grizzly Research · p. 7
callout villain critique

"Marvell, another major player, was just as skeptical, sharing color which was damning and indicates that Lasertec’s inventory is worthless and that the A300 is simply a ruse to swap out defective A150’s while disguising it as “growth”"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 28
callout villain critique

"The answer is key to understanding the fraud, and detailed in a later section: the ACTIS EUV system is so unreliable and slow that TSMC, Intel, and Samsung have simply gone back to using DUV and homegrown systems to inspect EUV masks."

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 57
callout villain critique

"We note that the German company Zeiss is the only developer of High NA anamorphic optics, as part of a strategic partnership with ASML, which precludes Lasertec from the intellectual property which is “secured by 2,000 Zeiss patents.”"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 161
callout transition

"Before we detail the photographic evidence, we note that the 2022 capital expenditure for the Innovation Park was by far the largest in Lasertec’s history, dwarfing any other spending since 2000 – illustrating its level of importance."

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 305
callout villain critique

"Over the last two years, DSP's expectations for DECT Home Gateways have declined dramatically from expecting total market shipments of approximately 13 million units in 2012 to estimating approximately 5 million units shipped in 2012."

DSP Group, Inc. · DSPG Starboard Value · p. 17
callout demand list

"We believe that HDClear may represent a best in class noise cancellation technology algorithm and that DSP should be actively looking to license this technology to smartphone companies, rather than, or in addition to, building a chip."

DSP Group, Inc. · DSPG Starboard Value · p. 41