Callouts & quotes from 984+ activist slides

"Samsung Electronics is unnecessarily overcapitalized with KRW77tn of cash and near cash items on its balance sheet, representing c. KRW540,000 per share or 32% of total assets"

"We strongly encourage the Board to de-emphasize revenue targets and instead compensate management primarily based on EBITDA and free cash flow per share targets going forward."

"DuPont transferred >$6bn of shareholder wealth to private equity owners by not running Coatings efficiently and selling the business for cash rather than doing a tax-free spin"

"Spruce Point believes the ultimate evidence that Stryker is struggling is by observing that its 12 month trailing Operating and Free Cash Flow has not been growing for a year."

"After adjusting Olam's EBITDA to remove non-cash accounting gains, it is showing that Olam is currently leveraged at 9.3x gross debt to LTM EBITDA, and 1.6x interest coverage."

"Fairfax determined that the Fair Value of its Quess stake as of March 31, 2018 was $1.1 billion, which resulted in a non-cash gain (and boost to Book Value) of $889.9 million."

"DuPont transferred >$5bn of shareholder wealth to private equity owners by not running Coatings efficiently and selling the business for cash rather than doing a tax-free spin"

"DuPont transferred >$5bn of shareholder wealth to private equity owners by not running Coatings efficiently and selling the business for cash rather than doing a tax-free spin"

"Despite spending an aggregate of $33bn from 2009 to 2012 – which was over 100% of operating cash flow – on capex, net acquisitions and restructuring, EPS has grown at just 5%."

"With no revenues and a depleting cash balance of US$ 113 million (~$0.50 cash/share as of 9/30/2021), we are short TMC and believe that its stock is going significantly lower."

"Enterprise Value = Equity Value + Debt + Preferred Stock + Unfunded Pension + Non-Controlling Interest - Cash - Marketable Securities - NPV of Tax Shield - Equity Investments."

"DuPont transferred ~$7bn of shareholder wealth to private equity owners by not running Coatings efficiently and selling the business for cash rather than doing a tax-free spin"

"It is unclear what this $96m and $62m cash flow discrepancy in 2013 and 2014 could be; however, in our LBO analysis we have conservatively included these ‘mystery’ cash costs."

"The fact that Adj. EBITDA growth does not translate into cash flow confirms to us that management's proprietary definition is not a meaningful measure of Company performance."

"Pioneer burns cash and isn’t growing. If the existing reserves are worth somewhere between $3 billion and $7.8 billion, why is the market paying $27 billion for this company?"

"The Level 2 reclassification raises worrying issues because the default assumption is that cash and term deposits of less than 12 months in safe banks are not Level 2 assets."

"As a result of the Company's improved capital allocation, pre-tax unlevered free cash flow has increased from a five-year low of $2.0 billion in 2002 to $3.5 billion in 2004."

"TWX pursued a strategy of rapid de-leveraging to ease concerns of the rating agencies and bondholders and, in the process, used cash for certain questionable asset purchases."

"MGPI's valuation is rich and its financial condition is fragile with no cash and significant leverage on earnings and EBITDA expectations that are likely to sorely disappoint"

"While the non-restricted portion of this cash should be included in liquidity, it should be adjusted by the 15.5% cash repatriation tax enforced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act."

"After deconsolidating what isn't BUR's, unbooking their non-cash realizations, and undoing the reliance on a select four cases, BUR H1 2019 cash ROICs actually turn negative."

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

"The fact that 91% of HASI's dividends are admittedly Returns of Capital (versus ordinary income) shows the stark difference between Distributable Earnings and cash receipts."

"Vitek extinguished debts in the tens of millions of euro his proxy-owed entity owed to CPI PG. He then possibly extracted even more cash by selling a receivable back to CPI!"

"At $21 per share, Veritas is buying the Company for 7.6x 2024 unlevered free cash flow, a multiple that is too low for a business with the positive characteristics of HMHC."

"Like most aggressive tech companies with poor business models that Spruce Point evaluates, we find that Dropbox tries to spin a rosy "Non-GAAP" Free Cash Flow presentation."

"More than half of U.S. homeowners now buy their panels with cash or a loan, rather than sign a lease or power purchase agreement, up from 38% of home installations in 2015."

"Saputo claims that EBITDA is a measure of cash flow in performing its DCF. However, our analysis shows that EBITDA is a poor proxy for cash flow and converts at around 70%."

"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)."

"We view missing interest income as a reliable indicator of missing cash and a more than reasonable basis for questioning the legitimacy of QTT’s cash balance and liquidity."

"Management has spent $1.6B on M&A since the financial crisis to grow operating cash flow from $519M to $557M in ten years, for an operating cash flow CAGR of less than 1%."

"Based on an industry accepted measure, we find SMCI's cash conversion has been worsening in the past few years and is well above management's "target" range of 85-90 days."

"In 3 of the last 4 quarters, the conversion was 26-30% - indicating that 70% of reported net income is just accrual estimates and assumptions in a spreadsheet versus cash."

"Why should investors include it as a component of liquidity when management won't even represent it as a component of restricted cash, to say nothing of unrestricted cash?"

"How can AVY have a “disciplined approach” to capital when it has no available cash. Notice that AVY does not list its $232m of “cash and equivalents” as a capital source."

"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."

"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 believe that TROX post-Exxaro deal ("New TROX") will be the strongest player in its industry with 100% vertical integration and unparalleled free cash flow generation"

"Elliott proposes to acquire athenahealth for $160 per share in cash for 100% of the outstanding shares of the Company, representing an enterprise value of ~$6.9 billion."

"The Company's entire new plan – pausing M&A, focusing on organic growth opportunities and using cash flows to reduce leverage – is essentially ripped from Engine's plan."

"Notice carefully, that Oatly does not report any cash associated with asset sales that should flow through the "Investing Activities" section of the cash flow statement."

"GTT's trailing-twelve-month (“TTM”) cash conversion rate is only 5.1% - significantly worse than most of its peers, whose weighted average cash conversion rate is 21.5%."

"Step 1: Disposal of TEN via auction process. The cash proceeds from the Tenon disposal will be used to repay Tenon's debt and finance the ARBRs research and development."

"We observe that Monster's philanthropic arm filed no tax form in 2020 in a year the parent Company reported almost 10% revenue growth and more than 20% cash flow growth."

"Looking carefully at disclosures, we see that TASK does not report interest income earned on cash and equivalents despite carrying large amounts of cash and equivalents."

"Mettler has exceeded sell-side quarterly EPS targets 100% of the time since 2008, and by no coincidence, management has always met 100% of its annual cash bonus targets."

"The post-spin tax carryforwards along with cash tax planning opportunities will allow ADT to sustain a single-digit cash tax rate consistent with pre-spin cash tax rates"

"Given TIP REIT’s de minimis maintenance capital requirements, TIP REIT’s free cash flow should be compared to a real estate investment trust’s AFFO, not the “FFO” metric"

"Spruce Point believes that Amcor's free cash flow, and commitment to repurchasing shares, leave it little room to protect its dividend under current market expectations."

"Spruce Point believes that Amcor's free cash flow, and commitment to repurchasing shares, leave it little room to protect its dividend under current market expectations."

"We demand transparency. The filings claim cash purchases, but if DSR Ventures had €19 million readily available, why borrow against HelloFresh shares in the first place?"

"As we suggested in our initial report, Cash & Equivalents would be double counted if Eurofins failed to net (technically "eliminate") Related Party Pooling Receivables."

"The anticipation of a tax repatriation holiday allows companies to tell their shareholders that bringing the cash back too soon would be a 'waste of shareholder money.'"

"At Sony's current share price the stock is trading at a 7% (12% normalized for semiconductor growth spending) unlevered free cash flow yield, based on this FCF guidance"

"The Ghanaian investment appears to be overvalued particularly when compared to their discounted cash flow model valuation and the unjustified increased purchase price."

"If achieved, the $14 billion 2025E mid-cycle EBITDA target translates to $9 billion of free cash flow, which at a 10% free cash flow yield implies a >$205 share price."

"Burford's 2019 financials use reclassification, redefinition to inflate cash receipts, operating profit, and to otherwise present a misleading picture of the business."

"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."

"If achieved, the $14 billion 2025E mid-cycle EBITDA target translates to $9 billion of free cash flow, which at a 10% free cash flow yield implies a >$205 share price."