Callouts & quotes from 26,677+ activist slides

"Ushio source had “degradation”; Lasertec/Intel did a premature victory lap and then had to rip out the light sources and replace with an Isteq source; new source also has problems and lacks performance data"

"That's why sometimes there are two tools. That's exactly the problem they have because if a tool is lousy, they need to have a backup tool; it breaks everything. And that's the number one problem they have."

"An Ushio field engineer who services the light sources in Lasertec’s machines corroborated the color we received from the TSMC purchasing executive, confirming that TSMC bought six ACTIS EUV tools in total."

"Ferguson's North American footprint is >2x the average of the specialty distributor / broadline peer group but only 1 US based research analyst covers the stock (vs. an average of 14 analysts for its peers)"

"There is so little competition that the opportunities to buy fine companies with double-digit cash-on-cash returns are more abundant than at any time in my career, other than at the bottom of a bear market."

"The net result of these models is to value RUN Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”) at ~$4.75 to $5.00 / watt. We believe that a far more realistic approach would yield a value of approximately $3.65 / watt."

"Since the beginning of 2013, HTA's same property revenues have grown on average by 1.9% y/y while same property expenses have decreased on average by 1.1% y/y, yet there is no commensurate margin expansion"

"Even recognizing that FIGS is projected to grow sales 26% in 2022, it still carries a substantial premium to peers despite our documented concerns around management and its exaggerated financial reporting."

"Is it a coincidence that with special and unaudited adjustments in the proxy statement, WTRG's management exceed its “maximum” threshold on EPS, its biggest weighting toward its short-term incentive bonus?"

"Almost 25% of Generac's manufacturing capacity by square foot in Wisconsin is dedicated to portable generators. A price war in the product category is particularly harmful for overhead absorption of costs."

"XPO’s CEO Brad Jacobs Known Business Associates Include Two Convicted Felons, A Director Whose Firm Was Just Sanctioned By FINRA, And An Audit Committee Director With A Role Promoting A $700M+ Ponzi Scheme"

"XPO's CEO Brad Jacobs Known Business Associates Include Two Convicted Felons, A Director Whose Firm Was Just Sanctioned By FINRA, And An Audit Committee Director With A Role Promoting A $700M+ Ponzi Scheme"

"Notably, the fee was last reduced below 25% in 2003 and remained below that threshold for four years. However, since 2007, the Board has consistently opted to charge the maximum fee of 25% to the Exchange."

"In light of these challenging circumstances and considering their fiduciary responsibility to policyholders, the Board took action on December 11, 2002, announcing a reduction in the management fee to 24%."

"Paychex is an ADP competitor that has reached its mature growth phase; yet, ADP trails Paychex significantly across all metrics: revenue productivity, gross margin, and operational profit margin (ex-float)"

"Our adjusted EPS figures remove what we believe to be unsustainable benefits to EPS. After considering these adjustments, the company’s underlying organic EPS growth is performing worse than at face value."

"According to the independent expert report, Keisei’s true ROE over the past 3 and 5-year periods falls well below investor and proxy advisor thresholds which can trigger votes to hold management to account"

"New unit growth is accelerating after a pause that allowed management to refocus on improving core operations. Management now believes that with the current model FDO can grow units 5-7% per year by FY2013"

"To be entirely clear, we at Bluebell Capital Partners believe that the energy transition, and achieving net-zero emissions, are among the greatest necessities (as well as opportunities) facing this planet."

"To believe in the IPX story you must believe that a small group led by Australian mining executives discovered something that has been overlooked for years by everyone else in the global titanium industry."

"IPX has shifted the narrative from Phase II being spherical or angular powder to now just angular powder. They have also reduced the capacity estimate from 2,000 to 1,400 tpa at slightly higher capex cost."

"Comments by solid state experts slam the QS cycle life claim: “definite red flag”; not an industry-standard battery test; Dept of Energy doesn’t even allow use of such ambiguous data by battery researchers"

"We believe that, if elected, Ron’s extensive academic and real world experience as an independent board chair would ensure fair process, fair dealing, and diligent care for the benefit of all shareholders."

"However, we believe that recent sales growth offers a false image of patient base growth, and that Dexcom’s patient growth opportunity will be severely limited over the coming ~18 months at the very least."

"As CGMs move inevitably and inexorably towards near-complete commoditization, a bet on Dexcom is effectively a bet on the Company’s ability to match Abbott’s scale in production and low-cost manufacturing."

"But when it became clear that Autodesk would miss its financial targets, management reversed course – harming the Company, its customers, and its shareholders – to protect and potentially enrich themselves"

"The effect of conforming DigitalGlobe’s accounting policy for payments received from customers that contain a financing element is to increase deferred revenue with an offsetting charge to finance expense."

"Arconic wants investors to focus on the cyclical disappointments in the non-aero portion of the Firth Rixson business, but, consistent with a familiar theme of management excuses, even this does not add up"

"Spruce Point finds that AMR’s CFO Eidson has engaged in undisclosed stock sales contrary to SEC guidelines which mandate that a Form 4 must be filed with two business days following an insider transaction."

"We believe CEO Blackford has too frequently been shown to sugar coat or, frankly, be incorrect about key issues related to both the Company’s business prospects and the regulatory processes, in particular."

"Spruce Point has a strong track record of exposing highly promoted “technology darlings” as technology dogs before the sell-side and investors could figure out that the businesses had inflected negatively."

"Zebra has long touted its leadership in radio frequency identification (“RFID”) especially after it augmented its product capabilities when acquiring Motorola Solutions Enterprise in 2014 for $3.5 billion."

"Zebra omitted a statement that said, “Our solutions remain essential to our customers’ operations…” and retracted a slide claiming it had “Attractive Long-Term Growth Opportunities Across Our End Markets”."

"HASI's use of a low, risk free rate to value these increasingly commercial receivables appears disingenuous: one expert stated to us that a high teens discount rate was appropriate for commercial projects."

"Twist hypes its chip but is less than candid on a critical point: it’s only used for the first step in a long manufacturing workflow, and the remaining steps are the same as any commodity DNA manufacturer."

"The “fee-for-service” delivers a customized offering to a university for their online program at significant reduction in cost. In our illustration, the university keeps an additional 26% of their tuition."

"As a result of fraud related to electric vehicle subsidies, Synergy and Broad Ocean now face much tighter requirements and longer payouts than they would have expected when partnering with Ballard in 2016."

"Ballard has historically hyped segments or products/partnerships within segments only later to restructure, exit or change strategic direction. Will the China HDM 2.0 Strategy be the latest disappointment?"

"The Hong Kong dollar peg has been working well since its adoption in 1983. It's the foundation for the stability of the currency and financial system in Hong Kong so we have no intention to make any change"

"Even when the vehicle telematics industry was nascent with more robust growth potential, larger industry players were acquired between 4x - 8x revenue, significantly less than Samsara's hefty 16x multiple."

"Spruce Point fact-checked C3's claim that its platform is “tightly integrated” with Hewlett Packard Enterprises’ (HPE) ProLiant family of servers. A recent sale inquiry revealed no such integration exists."

"We believe their unremarkable background (in the case of Williams) and failure to acknowledge these roles (in the case of Powell's LinkedIn biography), highlight the “figurehead” roles they currently fill."

"We believe FND trades at an irrational premium to peers and that sell-side expectations are too high. Where we differ the most is new store operating expenses which we estimate are set to rapidly increase."

"Something doesn't add up with Monster's MD&A discussion of changes in operating expenses. Notably, in 2023 total costs increased by $251 million, but the MD&A discusses changes amounting to $314.3 million."

"We believe both the Board and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (“Nom & Gov” or the “Governance Committee”) have proved unwilling or incapable of addressing seemingly obvious interconnects."

"The Magazine Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of TWX, is the leading consumer magazine publisher in the US and worldwide with approximately 13,000 employees and over 150 magazines as of September 30, 2005."

"The success or failure of the CNNMoney.com launch will be determined in time; however, this integrated approach, in general, has had limited success online and is reminiscent of the strategy of Pathfinder."

"Color us skeptical, but a cursory review of DV’s U.S. patent does not strike us as overly complex. Below are figures from a key patent. In fact, only one of the four patent authors is still employed by DV."

"In late December 2021, it appears that TaskUs just increased incentives for referrals by offering a $500 sign-on bonus to new recruits. In addition, $750 is paid to the individual who sources the new hire."

"In 2009, the California federal court stated that Herbalife appears to pay compensation facially unrelated to sale of products to ultimate users – an essential element of finding of an MLM to be a pyramid."

"So I think what you will see is retention will probably actually go up as we go through this phase. And then, we want to get back to active recruiting which is another word for opening new Nutrition Clubs."

"Trian believes Mr. Myers' qualifications to serve on DuPont's Board include the knowledge and experience he has gained while serving in various management positions for over 35 years with General Electric."

"While management says "holistically, this portfolio provides a platform for balanced growth, margin and return improvement...all of which leads to top-tier total shareholder return," it simply is not true."

"The Company has been entirely closed off to Elliott’s views and has not substantially considered the ideas of a major shareholder that has helped create billions in value for companies and their investors."

"MTD does not disclose sales by industry end market, instead broadly reporting sales in three product categories (lab, industrial, and retail) without providing details of margins in these three categories."

"Stryker's allowance for bad debts, a contra account to accounts receivables, has been steadily growing and is now above 5% of gross receivables - notably larger than close peers Zimmer Biomet and Medtronic"

"We question how TFS can continually and substantially revise its biological assets upwards, considering actual harvest results have missed their initial MIS prospectus results by such a spectacular amount."

"We theorize that the 1.5% interest rate is likely equivalent to what the company would have earned on the cash balance, and therefore was needed to plug the hole created by having actually funded the loan."

"The table below shows the cities and data which were adjusted based on the average sales price collected from BEKE’s platform for the reference city and the CRE price data’s average listing price for 2Q21."

"We do not believe these are simply one-off items to be excluded from financial results. Rather, we see these as on-going and recurring costs which are necessary to fix REZI's complex and ailing operations."