Callouts & quotes from 1,047+ activist slides

"We believe GoDaddy has a significant opportunity to improve margins and drive shareholder value through a disciplined approach to operational efficiency and capital allocation."

"On April 1, 2024, Autodesk announced the Audit Committee of the Board was conducting an investigation into the Company’s free cash flow and non-GAAP operating margin practices."

"Less than two months before the scil transaction was announced, Heska told investors that it was targeting 2022 gross margins of 49.5%. The current plan is 42% at the midpoint."

"Despite operating as nearly a pure play passive platform, State Street’s Investment Management margins meaningfully lag the peer average of ~ 45% and BlackRock’s margin of 39%"

"Based on the current cost structure for the Display business, even assuming 100% incremental margins, AOL's Display business would have to grow by over 95% just to break even."

"Under 3G management, Heinz expanded global gross margins by ~600 bps and Europe gross margins by ~1,100 bps in just two years without a material additional capital investment"

"Our proposed “Transformation Case” for ADP will lead to more robust top-line growth (i.e. better competitive positioning in Enterprise) and expand long-term operating margins"

"The low gross and net profit margins the distributors show support our view that ANTA is using its control of those distributors to fraudulently inflate its reported profits."

"We would expect truly independent Tier 1 distributors’ gross margins to approximate 30% to 35%, which is based on information provided in the interviews with Messrs. A and C."

"The Richter real estate structure appears severely cash-constrained. Holding illiquid assets while facing liquidity demands during a margin call creates a dangerous mismatch."

"Under 3G management, Heinz expanded global gross margins by ~600 bps and Europe gross margins by ~1,100 bps in just two years without a material additional capital investment"

"What did CEO Jagdfeld know before entering into a second 10B5-1 program as dealer growth stopped, margins subsequently collapsed, and working capital and liquidity worsened?"

"McGraw-Hill's segments exhibit distinct financial and qualitative characteristics with different end market, growth, margin, capital intensity, ROIC and regulatory profiles."

"At DuPont’s 2013 Investor Day, management was not transparent about reducing margin targets, suggesting that reduced margin targets were correlated to the accounting change."

"A Capital IQ search for healthcare companies globally >$100MM revenue and >$500MM market cap yielded about 500 results – and only 2 companies with margins worse than Ginkgo."

"When asked on the April earnings call about athena having to cut its already negative-margin pricing structure for this new offering, Jonathan Bush was his ever-candid self."

"Though PepsiCo does not disclose its international beverage margin (1/3 of sales), we estimate its global beverage business has a 12% EBIT margin – well below beverage peers"

"Quantumscape’s valuation of $15B requires a leap of faith from making lab prototypes to selling billions of dollars of batteries within 5-6 years, with Google-like margins."

"Spruce Point believes CHD effectively controls Armand Products and is using the entity to inflate key financial metrics (gross margin, free cash flow, and working capital)."

"If we assume Fox's gross margins are comparable, by our estimate, Rollins 40bps year-over-year gross margin improvement is solely attributable to the contribution from Fox."

"At best, we view Heska as a low-growth, low-margin distributor with a conflicted, sloppy management team and a track record of hyper promotion and poor financial reporting."

"We believe Autodesk can achieve these targets through approximately $350 million of net cost savings and 55% incremental margins on consistent revenue growth expectations."

"In apparent contradiction to its down-market positioning, NMC's EBITDA margins are significantly higher than those of Aster and Mediclinic, by about ten percentage points."

"Q1'25 marked the lowest gross margin quarter for Limbach's ODR segment since Q1'23. The margin decline raises concerns over the sustainability of Limbach's margin profile."

"Generac hasn't given explicit margin guidance but was asked twice. Based on the CFO's response, it appears he materially pushed back EBITDA margin expansion expectations."

"Our analysis focuses on a "Net Operational Profit Margin" to isolate float income (including the overstated credited yield) and to properly account for corporate expenses"

"GE has exhibited limited margin improvement - despite a beneficial mix shift toward higher-margin services revenue - because equipment margins have significantly declined"

"It should be noted that this expenditure will not improve ATL’s margins as energy costs are all passed through to carriers who will solely benefit from this expenditure."

"Enhancement Plan would leave Cognizant with a comparable operating margin target of ~21.5% in FY18E – still a highly conservative ~400–500 basis-point discount to peers."

"In the context of our findings about unusual revenue reporting and margins, we are alarmed to see that MSCI's Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) resigned on August 18, 2023."

"We view this program as a negative development with ADI having to be more promotional to stimulate revenue. As a result, we would expect this to weigh on future margins."

"However, as shown below, Autodesk's projected underlying incremental margins compare poorly to peers when adjusting for the estimated impact of the workforce reduction."

"While taking pricing up 20% in one go is tricky, 5% price increase backed by proper marketing would lift operating margins 3% for these SKUs based on our estimatations."

"There are several flaws of the DCF analysis. First, it's entirely dependent on assumption inputs. These inputs, such as growth, margins, and CapEx, are very subjective."

"I’m telling you, the problem...started two years ago and they said that we cannot ship...they are not shipping because it’s a liability...it’s consuming all the margin."

"It remains unclear how Procept accounts for costs associated with system rentals, and we suspect such activity may be contributing to recent increases in gross margin."

"When asked about long-term EBITDA margin potential, we observe that Dycom's former Chairman & CEO's response has become less specific and increasingly vague over time."

"ADP does a real good job of trying to look at ways to maximize margins, but you do it on a cadence that perhaps isn't at a pace that we are going to try to accelerate."

"Elanco has failed to achieve any of its margin targets in the timeframe set forth at its IPO, at the announcement of the Bayer acquisition or at the 2020 Investor Day."

"FTAI’s Aerospace Products EBITDA margins are inflated because hundreds of millions of cash costs are incurred by the Leasing segment rather than in Aerospace Products."

"BMC's reported operating margin is higher than its closest peer CA, however, expensing all of BMC's R&D and stock-based compensation presents a less flattering reality"

"The company's operating profit margin decline is primarily the result of comparatively weaker performance in the highly cyclical Cabinets and Windows/Doors segments..."

"Arconic's own filings list 2008 EPS margins as 19.2%. Only by including discontinued operations can the company show material "improvement" since the financial crisis"

"With half of revenue from cost-plus contracts, pre-corporate EBIT margins in GY's aerospace segment have consistently been between 9.8% and 11.7% for the past 8 years"

"If the program “If Time Flows Back” were priced at just 2x that paid by the TV stations, DDMC’s gross margin from its TV programs in 2018 would have dropped by 34.7%:"

"GoDaddy has a significant opportunity to improve margins and drive shareholder value through a disciplined approach to operational efficiency and capital allocation."

"As revenue growth slowed, Autodesk’s incremental margins declined to 50% – below prior levels and below the 55% incremental margins we believe Autodesk should target"

"Ancora strongly believes that our director nominees will be able to help restore Forward Air to producing best-in-class results from a margin and return perspective."

"Twist had negative gross margins as recently as 2018, despite meaningful revenue of $25MM and a negligible asset base, turning sharply positive immediately after IPO"

"As revenue growth slowed, Autodesk's incremental margins declined to 50% – below prior levels and below the 55% incremental margins we believe Autodesk should target"

"Based on incremental operating earnings from potential Professional Services gross margins of ~10% to 20% as compared to LTM 03/31/12 reported gross margin of 0.8%."

"While the company purportedly saved RMB 1,646 in annual feed costs per cow, it lost RMB 2,208 in sales per cow, which equals a net marginal loss of RMB 562 per cow."

"Management says that EPS can increase margins by 400 bps in 3-to-5 years. Given the volume leverage in this business, this is an extraordinarily undemanding target"

"After adjusting the top three coal companies cash flows for tax refunds and DTA expense, we see that AMR's operating cash flow margin is significantly below peers."

"With the exception of Performance Products, Adjusted EBITDA margin targets presented at the 2021 Investor Day are substantially the same as those presented in 2018"

"Even if sell-side margin expansion estimates include assumed M&A, future acquisitions are unlikely to be sufficient to support consensus margin expansion estimates"

"Spruce Point believes that the wider delta in GAAP and Non-GAAP Gross Margins pre and during COVID-19 are a reflection of greater financial strain in the business."

"Analysts seem blind to the fact that as Lightspeed scales, its gross margins are not only getting worse, but by a much larger factor than consensus is forecasting."

"The vast majority of what ADP calls “service” is product support to compensate for weak software and technology, which when fixed, will improve growth and margins"

"Adjusting 2012 estimates for management's 25% margin target and ~$46mm of interest expense(1), Lazard's EPS would be ~$2.50, a valuation less than 10x earnings(2)"