Callouts & quotes from 10,384+ activist slides

"No one else in the industry uses a 40-year depreciation. The industry standard for pretty much everyone, from AT&T to Verizon to CenturyLink to Cogent is generally 20 years. Sometimes 15 but most cases 20. — GTT's largest competitor"

"Spruce Point: “Is there anything in the competitive environment that’s changed or should worry a WD-40 investor?” Response: “I would definitely research a company called PB Blaster to see what they’re doing.” — Former WD-40 Employee"

""We have no plans to change the peg. One of the reasons the peg remains and people are confident about the Hong Kong dollar is that it has not changed in the last 19 years" — Antony Leung, Financial Secretary (2001-2003) – Nov. 2002"

"[w]e see a number of opportunities for substantial shareholder value creation and look forward to seeing the Company execute on opportunities to drive profitable growth towards a best-in-class financial profile. — Starboard Value LP"

"How at a meeting in the fall of 2013, CEO Indra Nooyi told Nelson that the acquisition of the bottlers was a "mistake," thereby conceding that $21bn ($17bn excluding the equity PepsiCo previously owned in the bottlers) was misspent."

"Our analysis concluded that the majority of the observations in the report apply to older versions of the Merlin@home™ devices (i.e., those that have not been updated through the automated remote upgrade process). — St. Jude Medical"

"From picked-over carcass to agile global player: How a 107-year-old Canadian steelmaker is stirring to life — Financial Post. Inside Stelco: The steel maker survived near death. What's next in its comeback plan? — The Globe and Mail"

""Well, the dating platform neu.de certainly makes for a great story. I think we made dating more socially acceptable through the enormous advertising prints in our out-of-home billboard campaign." — Dirk Stader, Media Ventures's CEO"

"「MagnaChipは粗利率を操作する目的で、未完成あるいは未出荷の製品の売上に収入を認識した。<中略>陳腐化あるいは古くなった製品の処理を遅延した。」また、同社が「収入と粗利率に関する公約について、重圧に屈して2年弱にわたって四半期ごとに収入を誇大に計上した。<中略>財務上の目標達成のために多岐にわたる会計上の仕業を駆使した。」 — SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) regarding MagnaChip"

"Independent proxy advisors ISS, Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones agree: support Elliott’s case for change at Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). Vote by the May 21st deadline to add new voices to the boardroom that put shareholders’ interests first."

""As alleged, using the lure of kickbacks disguised as rebates, Novartis co-opted the independence of certain pharmacists and turned them into salespeople for one of its drugs." — Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, April 23, 2013"

"The roles have changed after discussions among the consortium members, and Kakao Mobility will focus on serving as a platform for UAM commercialization based on our platform technology operation know-how. — A Kakao Mobility official"

"Yes, with the Nuvei and SafeCharge it took about a year before we could actually share APIs to even share our traffic. I think we rushed to market and was just like ‘Hey there, we can do everything for you.’ — Former Nuvei Employee"

"The drop in occupancy in Prague and Berlin was minor and partially reflects our strategy of refurbishing or developing certain properties, which might be vacant or partially vacant for a short period. — CPI PG, 1H 2022 earning call"

"Diversifying product portfolios to include both animal and alternative protein sources presents the biggest opportunity to mitigate operational risks while building agility to respond to market and technological disruptions — FAIRR"

"Mr. Starrett's biography fails to disclose that he served on both the Boards of AFC Enterprises (Nasdaq: AFCE) from 1998 – 2005 and The Pantry (Nasdaq: PTRY) from 1999 – 2006 during the period when a financial restatement occurred."

"“Despite the portfolio upgrading effort, a valuation gain has been elusive” — Goldman Sachs. “the market is currently discounting the potential for Huntsman to achieve these goals.” — Starboard Value (commentary on Huntsman slide)."

"Year-to-date, including business that has been agreed upon but not yet shipped, Alpha has sold approximately 1.9 million tons of metallurgical coal into China for the 2021 calendar year. — Horn, EVP, Sales (Q3 2021 Conference Call)"

"“serves on an excessive number of public company boards, which we believe raises substantial concerns about the director's ability to exercise sufficient oversight on this board” — BlackRock (in their voting rationale for Item 5.9)"

"In our goal of owning thirst, we are excited about our many exclusive product launches in the US, including Celsius Watermelon Ice during the quarter and our first GHOST brand exclusive this month. — CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard"

""The fact of the matter is that the stocks in which [Mr. Peltz] has been involved, capex has gone up, not down, in nearly all of the cases. The record speaks for something, does it not?" — Scott Wapner, Host, CNBC’s Halftime Report"

""We rely on assumptions and estimates to calculate certain key operating metrics, and real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business." — Momo 2017 20-F Annual Report (p.14)"

""The fact of the matter is that the stocks in which [Mr. Peltz] has been involved, capex has gone up, not down, in nearly all of the cases. The record speaks for something, does it not?" — Scott Wapner, Host, CNBC's Halftime Report"

""The fact of the matter is that the stocks in which [Mr. Peltz] has been involved, capex has gone up, not down, in nearly all of the cases. The record speaks for something, does it not?" — Scott Wapner, Host, CNBC’s Halftime Report"

""Amazon and Google are Currently Racing to Invest in This Industry (and It's Not Technology) People describe this industry as boring, stagnant, and low-tech, but Google and Amazon don't seem to care" — Inc. Magazine, March 11, 2019"

""TSMC will not consider the A300 or A150 for production"; "Lasertec X8 ULTRA and X9 ULTRA are the DUV light source but they are inspecting the EUV mask...for the throughput...[EUV] is not necessary." — Ex-TSMC procurement executive"

"“If you look at how these bills are inflated, in many situations...the vendor fees can actually exceed the medical cost of care. One, it’s absurd, and two, it basically obviates the purpose of any type of plan like this.” — HST CEO"

""there were so many problems that we just shook our heads...." — KOL; "Nevro definitely designed their HF10 trial to make their product look better. There's no question about it." — KOL; "Nevro's always played a lot of games" — KOL"

"It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce. — 42 U.S. Code § 274e"

"“You are still living with the consequences of that burn, and everyone involved in this failure needs to be held accountable. And frankly, it's a reminder that Norfolk Southern can't be trusted.” — Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)"

"By the way, they are ahead of our plan. We had an internal plan that we put together for the combined business... And they had a quarter that exceeded our expectations and we expect that to continue. — Roger Krone, CEO, Aug 4, 2020"

""Lightspeed launched Payments in the international markets starting with the U.K., and earlier this week, announced 5 more European launches, including Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands." — Q1 2022 Conf Call"

"“It was just like these little tinkers working in their shop and sort of puttering along and doing okay science, but they had no idea how to actually get to market.” — Neurologist and professor at a pre-eminent academic institution"

"I was very excited initially based on the mechanism...but I have to say it's a pretty saturated field...I might have had a couple more patients on over the past six months or so. — Neurologist in the New York, major academic center"

"“whatever they shipped so far, they basically lost money...they basically are spending constantly on cleaning, constantly replacing tools, and keep losing money.” — Leading figure in the development of Cymer/ASML’s EUV light source"

"Party B has a duty to actively implement the POP Kids Education system, safeguard and expand the brand’s visibility and reputation, engage in lawful measures to restrain behavior or actions which defame or otherwise harm the brand"

"WHY THEME PARKS ARE PROVING RECESSION-PROOF — Variety, August 30th, 2022. No such thing as recession in Disneyland? — Fortune, May 6th, 2008. Theme park industry weathering the recession — Attractions Management, April 27th, 2010."

"Glass Lewis believes that separating the roles of CEO (or, more rarely, another executive position) and Chair creates a better governance structure than a combined CEO/Chair position. — Glass Lewis 2024 Benchmark Policy Guidelines"

"Our competitors also may obtain patents or other similar protected formulas that may hinder our ability to develop new products or enter new categories, which could have a material adverse effect on our growth. — Oatly Risk Factor"

"BP's Officers “owe a duty to the Company to act with integrity (…). Integrity requires, among other things, being honest and candid (…). Deceit and subordination of principle are inconsistent with integrity.” — BP's Code of Ethics"

""The best measure to judge a company's performance over time is growth of free cash flow per share, and we believe that's what drives long-term value for our owners." — Rich Templeton, Chairman and former CEO of Texas Instruments."

"“Have more than 10 distributors been disciplined for violating the 70-percent rule?” “That’s possible.” — Mr. Stephens (Ford Counsel) and Ms. Miller (Herbalife Employee), Deposition of Jacqueline Miller in Herbalife v. Ford (2009)"

"Look, I think what's great about Sasan on one hand, is he's bullish and he's going to swing for the fences. What's sometimes not great about Sasan is he's bullish and he swings for the fences. — Former VP at Intuit, Tegus, 8/24/23"

"Glass Lewis believes that separating the roles of CEO (or, more rarely, another executive position) and Chair creates a better governance structure than a combined CEO/Chair position. — Glass Lewis 2024 Benchmark Policy Guidelines"

"The engineering modification and maintenance business acts as an internal MRO shop servicing Boeing and other aircraft needs. We estimate that this represents about 37.5% of total BGS revenue. — Sell side re Boeing Global Services"

"“When Nevro launched in 2015, I was really interested in the data and how much better it worked than regular spinal cord stimulation. So I used it and I was very impressed with it in the beginning.” — High volume implanter and KOL"

"Macht einen roten Punkt an den Stand, damit die nachher gekauft werden – Live-Shopping, sozusagen, [Publikum lacht] auf der Messe. Und dann musst Du nachher dann sehen, dass Du mit den ganzen Firmen klar kommst (Lacht). — P. W. M."

"“Jennifer Miller was the biggest enroller. I think Eric Felner was number two. And the third largest was a lady over in the UK. Nicola Bridges. She was the third top enroller.” — Formerly in a senior medical affairs role at Soleno"

"The TSA has publicly stated its intent to require all travelers to be processed through CAT machines in the future, either through travelers presenting physical IDs or through the transmittal of digital ID credentials. — 2023 10-K"

"A former high-level employee we spoke with called INOD’s AI “smoke and mirrors.” When we asked another former employee about INOD’s claims concerning its AI, they said management was “putting lipstick on a pig.” — Former employees"

"FF is like my child. It carries my lifelong belief, my resources, my passion, my only remaining spark, after years of sacrifice, battles, and hard choices. I've invested nearly $700 million of my own money into FF... — Jia Yueting"

"I think in these situations, the press puts a lot of pressure on insurers, and they often just cut checks for whatever the content’s limit is...so it would probably be 50% of Coverage A. — Former California P&C insurance executive"

""Every portable generator in North America is imported with the exception of the ones that we make in Jefferson, Wisconsin. So nobody else makes portable generators in North America, we do." — Generac CEO, Q3 2018 Conference Call"

"Crown’s thesis for paying premium multiples on fiber is that it values fiber & towers similarly; CCI expects fiber economics to be very similar to towers, albeit at an earlier stage of development and investment. — Citi, May 2017"

"“Not only are Frontier and its contractors knowingly and willfully violating the law, the contractors appear to be fraudulently concealing the violations in some instances by using fake conduit.” — Connecticut utilities regulator"

"identifying and evaluating global security, political, budgetary, regulatory and other issues, trends, opportunities, and challenges that could impact our business activities and performance — Mercury Systems 2018 Proxy Statement"

"Valeant believes Val-gan can achieve "[h]igh single-digit organic revenue growth for the foreseeable future" across the entire business, including both the cliff and durable portfolio. — Valeant Public Presentation April 22, 2014"

"Biosense Webster claims a 1mm ultra-high resolution for its CARTO 3 mapping catheter, but that's only at the exact point at which the catheter touches the endocardium, with the radius around that point interpolated. — Footnote 14"

""[LSS] has been a chronic underperformer but should be able to outgrow its end markets... There is nothing structural or that they can't fix... If the market grows 2-3%, [LSS] should be able to grow 4-5%." — Former Avantor Leader"

""In our experience, boards are most effective at overseeing and advising management when there is a senior, independent board leader." — BlackRock Investment Stewardship, Proxy voting guidelines for U.S. securities - January 2024"