Callouts & quotes from 26,677+ activist slides

"Therefore, in regards to the school tax treatment problems, our state unified tax system is equally applicable regardless of whether it's a private school or a public school, a profit school or a non-profit school."

"Spruce Point believes Avery’s shares do not deserve to trade near all-time highs as its business comes under multiple pressures and management has explicitly said it will face headwinds when global markets recover."

"Spruce Point believes the Tangible Equity Units (TEUs) should be bifurcated between their debt and equity components. The instruments can be separated by the holders, and settled at any time at the holder's option."

"The work needed to take a deal from initial stage to closing was the same regardless of size. As the Company grew - and we were probably late to this realization - the juice wasn't worth the squeeze for many deals."

"Xerox should leverage its position of power – being a critical revenue stream for Fuji Xerox and Fuji Xerox being a large part of Fuji – to renegotiate or eliminate the one-sided Fuji Xerox joint venture agreements"

"Henan Ruili cannot be dismissed as a single anomalous operation. We strongly suspect there are other controlled suppliers that, combined with the controlled distributors, materially improve ANTA's reported margins."

"In addition to the nominal PBR, the company also calculates a “revised PBR” using net assets that add in the unrealized gains on rental and other real estate, with the consciousness of improving capital efficiency."

"Jingsu’s office address – as provided in CIFS’s prospectus and confirmed in its SAIC file – actually leads to a dead end (very typical of China fraud sham counterparties): the fifth floor of an orthopedic hospital."

"Expectations of a potential transaction announcement have contributed to HHH's substantial share price outperformance relative to peer benchmarks since August 5, 2024 (the day prior to Pershing Square's 13D filing)"

"A quantum computing faculty member who has used IonQ’s computer via AWS described the company’s showcase algorithms as merely solving “mock problems” - “a toy problem”; “not going to solve any real-world problems.”"

"Note that when the heavy concert schedule from April to August ended, traffic abruptly turned negative. BOOT’s 10-K says its business is moderately seasonal and that Q3 holiday season is historically the strongest."

"Over the next number of years, improvements in technology will allow more efficient utilization of the auto fleet, and battery technology will allow more cars to run on gas-fired electricity. Oil will get left out."

"Warning: Oatly's 2018 U.S. sales can't be reconciled and vary by 100%. Both Nielsen and a Swedish magazine reported $6m of sales in 2018, whereas Oatly just disclosed $12m of sales in its new investor presentation."

"Wall Street reports on Oatly conspicuously fail to include other dairy comps, and even plant-based milk producers such as Vitasoy and SunOpta, when trying to value Oatly. Is it because they command lower multiples?"

"In fact, CPPIB made a large stock divestment of ~2.5 million shares on November 15, 2023 during a month when the market rallied sharply on the belief that the Federal Reserve's interest rate rising cycle would end."

"Spruce Point believes that Zebra needs a refresh at the Board level. We are concerned that 50% of the Board has been entrenched for over a decade with Directors Maniere and Smith having served for over two decades."

"The most important thing that got a lot of people who work around and have to make sure that all of these things are connected together, and so they have quite a bit of labor, even though they’re “fully automated.”"

"At Trian’s consumer investments where Nelson Peltz has served on the board, margin improvement coincided with sales growth, often due to reduced bureaucracy, greater accountability, and a faster moving organization"

"In 2019, the three holdcos that made up the Collina Muratella landbank complex—which were owned by apparent arms-length parties at the time—had over €100 million total in past due loan payables to a group of banks."

"We believe Norfolk Southern's contention is quite simplistic considering there are multiple types of car categories including Company-owned, shipper owned, car hire from other Class I rails and TTX, and car leases."

"To be clear, $7 billion is a MAXIMUM value, as 100% of operating costs cannot actually be eliminated, since the Company will still need dedicated sales, marketing, and support functions for these marketed products."

"Investors, a former employee, and industry observers appear baffled as to where C3 fits into the complex AI ecosystem. Try finding C3's logo on three recent industry overview pieces by three different analysts....."

"When we inquired about C3.ai with a Microsoft sales agent, he knew almost nothing about the product, and directed us twice back to C3's website for more information. The agent made no effort to sell us C3 directly."

"Why did the compensation committee grant options on much harsher terms to a new CFO than to the CEO and his long-time associate Mr. Abbo? We observe that C3 does not have a formal Clawback Policy for fraud adopted."

"Spruce Point has targeted companies that - like HIMS - use celebrity endorsement to try to stimulate brand awareness and sales. Ultimately, we do not believe this strategy succeeds in the long-run for shareholders."

"In an environment where the FTC is clearly cracking down on businesses that use manipulative, customer-unfriendly design practices around subscriptions, we believe there is substantial risk to HIMS’ business model."

"Elliott indicated that it is open to collaborating with the Board on a path forward, but absent alignment Elliott intends to move expeditiously to give shareholders a direct say on the necessary leadership changes."

"Since January 2012, DuPont has provided nine different versions of 2011 EPS. Can DuPont’s independent directors explain why that is? Trian’s nominees will seek to ensure that the board holds management accountable."

"DuPont's share price declined by $10 cumulatively over all 31 Earnings Events, underperforming the S&P 500 Index by even more, suggesting strong operational execution has not been a primary driver of value creation"

"Since January 2012, DuPont has provided nine different versions of 2011 EPS. Can DuPont's independent directors explain why that is? Trian's nominees will seek to ensure that the board holds management accountable."

"DuPont's share price declined by $10 cumulatively over all 31 Earnings Events, underperforming the S&P 500 Index by even more, suggesting strong operational execution has not been a primary driver of value creation"

"Rather than constructively engage with shareholders over legitimate concerns, the Board instead chose to hastily remove four committee chairs and appoint three new directors who largely lack public board experience"

"ratios of 3.25x - 3.50x for TWX (excluding TWC) would enable TWX to pursue substantially greater repurchases or accelerate the implementation of the Management Repurchase Plan and remain an investment grade credit."

"If you want some money today, perfect, put together a retail plan. But if you want lifestyle money, if you want to build that financial independence, you want to lock in that security for life, you need to recruit."

"Since January 2012, DuPont has provided nine different versions of 2011 EPS. Can DuPont’s independent directors explain why that is? Trian’s nominees will seek to ensure that the board holds management accountable."

"DuPont's share price declined by $10 cumulatively over all 31 Earnings Events, underperforming the S&P 500 Index by even more, suggesting strong operational execution has not been a primary driver of value creation"

"Should STJ not voluntarily recall these Devices once informed of the high probability that the device would cause serious, adverse health consequences or death, the FDA has ample regulatory basis to order a recall."

"Since January 2012, DuPont has provided nine different versions of 2011 EPS. Can DuPont’s independent directors explain why that is? Trian’s nominees will seek to ensure that the board holds management accountable."

"DuPont's share price declined by $10 cumulatively over all 31 Earnings Events, underperforming the S&P 500 Index by even more, suggesting strong operational execution has not been a primary driver of value creation"

"BR's working capital profile has changed markedly from post-COVID-19. Specifically, we see after it acquired Itiviti in May 2021 (Q4 2021), BR's working capital turned negative in four of five consecutive quarters."

"Going into the current economic correction, BR has limited cash flow available for debt reduction given its growing commitment to paying its dividend - now costing nearly $340 million per year ($2.90/share a year)."

"By moving the asset from inventory, to other noncurrent (long-term) accounts, Stryker could potentially be enabling operating cash flow overstatement or avoiding impairment of assets where customers have defaulted."

"When comparing the data of the confirmed store with the SAIC data, we observed further discrepancies. The only unique store of the seven observed, Branch No. 53, is located at E2-A1-8 of the MOBO apartment complex."

"The value enhancement measures will unlock significant benefits for all stakeholders through an improved SCT with a clear strategy and strong commitment to optimised capital allocation and sustainable future growth"

"Market skepticism focused on corporate governance has been a significant overhang on the company's stock. SCT should execute key governance changes to foster a culture of best-in-class capital allocation and growth"

"If one adjusts Carvana's ~$2,900 non-GAAP retail GPU reported in 2H23 to account for these definitional differences, we estimate the comparable metric would be ~$2,300, remarkably similar to CarMax, as shown below."

"Importantly, with 22% of Target’s existing EBITDA representing the ground lease rents available to TIP REIT, the separation of TIP REIT would allow for significant shareholder value creation for Target shareholders"

"Cumulatively, the amount of taxes under-reported on the income statement relative to cash taxes paid is ~$142m. Therefore, we argue that Net Income has also been cumulatively overstated by the corresponding amount."

"Pershing Square and its director candidates have demonstrated a lack of knowledge and understanding of ADP and its current operations, which is a cause for concern given their lack of relevant technology experience"

"The talk attracted an overflow crowd, and numerous doctors in attendance confirmed that they too had seen similarly abnormal rates of explants. Another KOL indicated that Nevro would try to undermine the presenter."

"The Omnia signaled a 180 degree turn in strategy versus the positioning of the past decade: the company would now offer every frequency and waveform under the sun and throw the kitchen sink at doctors and patients."

"Excluding revenue from in-year acquisitions, Limbach has fallen short of the midpoint of its initial annual revenue guidance in three of the past four years, and below the low-end of guidance in two of those years."

"We analyze the annual capex reporting as a percent of its Gross P&E relative to a diversified set of aggregate and building material peers and find USCR to be a significant outlier when adjusted for capital leases."

"Mr. Barber would be a valuable addition to the Board given his extensive executive leadership, corporate governance and strategy, audit and finance experience in the shipping, logistics and supply chain industries."

"Based on a forensic linguistic analysis of LDOS's CEO at the recent Morgan Stanley Conference in Sept 2020, we believe he tried avoid direct comments on SD&A acquisition until finally claiming it's performing well."

"Tegus conducted an interview of a former LSPD executive who was with the Company for more than 5 years, leaving in 2019. The executive expressed issues with early acquisitions such as POSIOS, SEOShop and Gastrofix."

"Abbott spent almost a decade trying to solve the pharmacokinetic and bioavailability issues in the program and couldn't, illustrating the severity of the problems in the H3 class – “this was no surprise to anyone.”"

"Bioprojet “just stuck with the first compound that they got” – suggesting that Bioprojet didn’t even properly understand their own molecule vs. J&J which “did a hell a lot of chemistry around the templates we had.”"

"Other industry players recognize that PetIQ likely undertook the acquisition not for the sake of the veterinary business itself, but to gain access to direct relationships with manufacturers – Merial in particular."

"The fact that each independent director signed off on a letter full of purposefully misleading statements and accusations has made us more certain than ever that significant change is needed on Phillips 66's Board."