Callouts & quotes from 26,677+ activist slides

"There may potentially be other costs (one-time or recurring) that we have not accounted for. However, we may believe such costs are small relative to the large potential upside from an improved FirstGroup US valuation"

"Not surprisingly, families indicate they are already discontinuing VYKAT due to fluid retention and failure with Lasix and other diuretics – or that they are passing on VYKAT after reading about edema and other issues"

"Indicated extreme skepticism of Vykat, stating that all 8 colleagues met with the Soleno rep a few weeks ago, with only one start form submitted between them across 50 patients, which hasn't gotten insurance approval."

"We highlighted that one of Soleno’s biggest risks is that physicians simply substitute generic diazoxide suspension in place of Vykat, to which the endocrinologist replied: "this is not good...this is not good at all""

"Not surprisingly, families indicate they are already discontinuing VYKAT due to fluid retention and failure with Lasix and other diuretics – or that they are passing on VYKAT after reading about edema and other issues"

"The ex-employee stated that generic diazoxide oral suspension is perfectly substitutable for Vykat, based on Soleno’s own PK data despite their protestations to the contrary, and expects to see the substitution occur."

"I think the GLP-1s, if I was going to bet, will probably be more effective than this drug from what I’ve seen about this drug so far, and the limited data I’ve got on the GLP-1s and the GLP-1s are likely to be cheaper"

"It appears that reps would latch onto a patient with narcolepsy and then try to get the physician or their office to expand the diagnosis to cataplexy – even if the patient didn't have it – to “comply” with the label."

"In a chart filed in TASK's SEC prospectus, it claims growth to nearly 1,000 employees by 2012. However, other sources directly from the Company and CEO indicate a workforce closer to 270 – 400 at the same time period."

"The CEO of Porch is Matt Ehrlichman, the former Chief Strategy Officer, a named executive, at The Active Network (formerly NYSE: ACTV), a company that Spruce Point's founder Ben Axler successfully bet against in 2012."

"At least one investor thinks that LSPD is a "Fake it til you make it" story and cobbled together with "cruddy & extremely inferior solutions, hiding behind M&A". Spruce Point will evaluate these claims in more detail."

"Applied to the present case, Accor SA’s misleading representations relating to social and human rights practices – as described in Grizzly’s findings – may distort consumers’ perception of a company’s ethical conduct."

"BWLD's ROIC in 2015 represented the most significant year-over-year decline in ten years, reflecting the dilutive impacts of 1) higher capital intensity of company-owned stores and 2) dilutive franchisee acquisitions"

"Avery's customer credit quality has been deteriorating. It made an accounting change to move a key customer allowance for returns into Other Current Liabilities, and recently updated its accounting for credit losses."

"Spruce Point has a track record of prescient calls in the consumer and retail sector and has typically found warning signs around inventory. Notably, we warned recently about Oatly, and its shares declined up to 88%."

"Importantly, we note that many of these companies have significantly greater technology intensity than ABML (or any recycling business), and that recycling businesses, in general, trade at even more modest multiples."

"We believe the Board has manipulated annual meeting dates and nomination deadlines to prevent shareholders, and Starboard specifically, from making changes to the Board that we believe would benefit all shareholders."

"For a period of 10 years after its IPO, MPWR omitted disclosure of its raw materials inventory accounts. Given that raw materials can be a powerful indicator of future demand growth, we find this omission concerning."

"Management has stated its investment grade rating is a top priority and above capital return. Yet, CTC has continued to buyback shares while its leverage remains above the level required to prevent a credit downgrade"

"Fake cycle life claims are a dime a dozen among solid-state startups. Infinite Power – a failed Apple acquisition - claimed a preposterous 75,000 cycle life, also based on a tiny, low energy density prototype like QS"

"If this transaction has been partly motivated by political considerations, explain why the Airbus board directors are not in breach of their fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of Airbus and its shareholders."

"Hess conglomerate structure has yielded cost overruns, operational hiccups, and an affinity for overbuilding. Pure play CLR achieved similar production growth and acquired more acres at lower cost and greater benefit"

"We Believe That Viacom is Significantly Undervalued Relative to its Peers and Assets and Can Deliver Material Returns Over The Long-term For Its Shareholders With Changes Made to its Leadership and Board of Directors"

"Marathon can take direct, immediate action to simplify its midstream operations and structure that will result in a lower cost of capital for the midstream business and a forced revaluation for Marathon shareholders."

"If these businesses were valued at Avantor's global multiple (approximately 10x EBITDA) as opposed to their acquisition multiples of around 28x EBITDA, this implies that over $2.4 billion of value has been destroyed."

"CPIPG's fair value policies indicate that once a plot of land or an old building is designated as an investment property under development, the valuer is to project forward the net profit of the fully leased project."

"We view this as an admission that such devices are clearly good enough to perform initial monitoring on asymptomatic people. And if that is indeed the case, why would any healthcare provider pay $250 for a Zio patch?"

"Part V: Twist operates in a commodity, crowded, hyper-competitive space in which it ignited a furious price war and “race to the bottom,” with a me-too offering and a bottom-of-the-barrel price-seeking customer base."

"Tenon EBITDA running at low cycle of USD8m vs peak of USD20m. Margin improvement potential from restructuring, new products launch, new geographies and housing market recovery could drive an EBITDA pick-up to USD23m."

"Over a longer term period, with a best-in-class management team and perfect information, we believe the opportunity exists to reach peer average margins of 48% and potentially further close the margin gap with Amgen."

"Kao needs a leadership that can articulate an ambitious growth strategy built on a cohesive overseas growth plan focused on a core set of brands and backed by a credible marketing, branding and distribution strategy."

"The HIMS engagement partner at KPMG has only one other publicly-listed audit client according to his PCAOB profile: 89bio, a $1 billion market cap pre-revenue biotech company that lacks the structural issues of HIMS."

"Spruce Point observes that FND removed its Adjusted Net Income and EPS bridge following FY 2022 results. We view this as a potential indicator that the Company no longer wants investors to rely on historical results."

"Spruce Point has a track record of producing critical and thought-provoking research related to highly promoted public companies implementing North American roll-up strategies and listed in the Canadian stock market."

"Spruce Point believes that Monster’s core energy brand is being challenged in a changing environment where social media celebrity endorsers and athletes can rapidly launch new products to their millions of followers."

"Elliott engaged a top-tier strategic consulting firm to perform a full review of Marathon's integrated structure in 2016 and 2019. Both times it concluded there were limited dis-synergies from a potential separation."

"We believe the decision to pursue a rushed refreshment process rather than engage constructively on legitimate shareholder concerns demonstrates the Board remains incredibly entrenched and further change is required."

"TWX's divisions are valued by investors based on different metrics: OIBDA, FCF, EPS or yield. Each of TWX's divisions should be positioned to appeal to specific categories of investors: Growth, GARP, Value and Index."

"PeptiDream could, of course, make the states of these partnerships clearer to investors. Instead, as we discuss infra, PeptiDream obscures its lack of success by limiting the useful information it provides investors."

"Because Anthony Powell ascended the Herbalife chain from World Team to President’s Team, his Personal Volume purchasing behavior provides valuable insights into the incentives created by Herbalife’s compensation plan"

"Indeed, of the first 14 search results for the generic term “water flosser” on Amazon, only one is a Waterpik, and more than half the results for an Amazon search of the term “Waterpik” itself are competing products."

"Medical device recall precedents support our view that the devices should be recalled - in our opinion, the risks and severity of the STJ vulnerabilities rise at least to the levels of the following recalled devices."

"Mettler has classified an increasing % of total capex to the corporate segment. On average, corporate capex has been about 50% of total capex since Blue Ocean launched, and a times, amounted to >80% from 2009 – 2012."

"MTD’s valuation expansion in the current cycle is absurd in the context that investors are paying a higher multiple every year for a company that has directed +80% of its total cash flow just to purchasing its stock."

"The Federal Reserve Board has been unable to find any credible purpose for the huge balance sheets built by Fannie and Freddie other than the creation of profit through the exploitation of the market-granted subsidy."

"Phillips 66's (NYSE: PSX) entrenched Board, on learning that energy veteran Greg Goff supports Elliott's Streamline 66 plan, resorted to personal attacks rather than welcoming his four decades of industry experience."

"Excluding current board members elected as a result of the Company's settlement with Starboard, 75% of new independent directors / nominees since spin-off have had strong interconnections with existing board members!"

"Red Lobster's key operating metrics continue to get worse. This trend will create difficulties for standalone Red Lobster ("New Red Lobster") management, who will need to turn around the brand in the public spotlight"

"We believe that Darden’s total owned real estate is conservatively worth approximately $4 billion, and possibly far more, and that separating the real estate could create $1-2 billion in additional shareholder value."

"We believe that Darden’s total owned real estate is conservatively worth approximately $4 billion, and possibly far more, and that separating the real estate could create $1-2 billion in additional shareholder value."

"At best, we believe it was unethical for Mr. Ehrlichman not to disclose his work at HelpScore.com while ACTV was in the process of selling shares, and at worst this could be construed as securities misrepresentation."

"We understand that in the quest to achieve the highest possible valuation, Aurora wants to just provide the software and let everyone else do the dirty work of actually building physical equipment and infrastructure."

"So, for example, the chart above shows that at about 1000 miles of transit, the average cost of manned OTR ($2.16 x 1,000 miles ≈ $2,200) is about the same as a hypothetical autonomous delivery with no driver charge."

"Former employees indicated that 10X Genomics (ticker: TXG) is also a significant competitive threat, stating that both 10X Genomics and Abcellera deliver the same single cell information as BLI but at 5% of the cost."

"This could help FTAI transfer leasing equipment to Inventory at arbitrarily low costs. Recall, a lower carrying value for Inventory results in lower COGS and consequently a higher gross margin for Aerospace Products."

"These results are far more consistent with a frank hemodynamic effect of atrasentan: endothelin blockers increase kidney outflow more than they increase kidney inflow, without necessarily improving kidney filtration."

"We believe company research can yield differentiated macro insights and is highly synergistic with Pershing Square’s core equity strategy, which has a coverage universe spanning the vast majority of S&P 500 companies"

"While it appears more substantive on the surface as an entity engaged in legitimate - albeit failed - R&D, later sections discuss why we believe that Ginkgo uses it as just another front to create fictitious revenue."

"Spruce Point Believes Investors Should Be Cautioned Not To Extrapolate Recent Earnings Performance. We Believe There Are Numerous Business Risks And Cracks In The Growth Story That Are Not Being Adequately Discounted"

"This strongly suggests that organic growth since FY15 has been flat at best, and severely negative at worst. Management’s lack of clarity regarding underlying organic sales growth is suspicious to us in this context."