Callouts & quotes from 108+ activist slides

"We also expect to have lower equity earnings associated with the ULA business as a result of the number and mix of launches expected in 2019 compared with 2018.... The largest single item that is driving the margin reduction next year, though, is actually our ULA equity earnings. Those are actually going – we expect those to be down nearly $150 million or so from this year's estimate of the equity earnings from ULA. — LMT Q3'18 Conf Call"

"Latin America operating profit trended down during the fourth quarter and full-year as compared to last year... We have reduced both variable and fixed costs in our Latin America business, which has driven profit improvement since the low point during the second quarter of 2017. Conditions are stabilizing in Brazil, and we expect improving profitability in '18 and beyond from the actions we have taken. — Bemis Q4 2017 Ended Dec"

""Net cash provided by financing activities for fiscal 2004 was $8.7 million, compared with $11.4 million for fiscal 2003. The decrease is primarily attributable to a decline in proceeds from common stock issued under stock incentive plans. In addition, the Company had no short-term borrowings at the end of fiscal years 2004 and 2003, other than amounts due GECC which are included in accounts payable." — Linens 2005 10-K"

""Capital expenditures were $190 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $169 million in the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase in capital expenditures is primarily driven by increased investment to drive growth and improve cost productivity. Free Cash Flow in 2020 is expected to be approximately $350 million, with capital expenditures of approximately $200 million." — Sealed Air"

""With more modern technology than what's used in the traditional whiskey-making process, Cleveland, Ohio-based distiller Cleveland Whiskey has refined a proprietary scientific method. But thanks to his experimentation, his current process takes about a week from the beginning of production to bottling and shipping, compared with the years it takes using traditionally methods" — CNBC August 2015"

"Send volume increased to $12.1 billion for 2020, compared to $7.1 billion for 2019, largely due to higher transaction volumes from new and existing customers, partially offset by lower average send amount per active customers as a result of increasing geographic diversification, and in particular a mix shift toward corridors with lower average send amounts. — Remitly IPO Prospectus 2020"

"During 2022, net cash provided by operating activities was $596 million, compared to $538 million in 2021. The $58 million year-over-year increase was primarily driven by higher customer prepayments, timing of employee benefit payments and lower interest payments. Higher working capital levels, reflecting increased sales, partially offset these items. — Xylem 2022 Annual Report"

"“because we had to change parts and add resources,” — Lasertec CEO; “...the current source cost, together with the current stage cost, doesn't make sense. I don't think they can shave a lot compared to KLA and, in a 2x-led price war, it doesn't add up to me... we are around—we are $23-24 million.” — Former KLA executive in a leadership role in their EUV mask inspection group"

"Gross margin decreased to 45.6% in the current year compared to 46.4% for the prior year primarily due to product volume deleveraging, the negative impact of foreign currency changes and inventory-related charges, partially offset by pricing, higher service and software margins, and lower premium freight and component part costs. — Zebra Technologies 2023 10-K"

""This 250-basis-point decline in gross margin as compared to the prior year was mainly the result of an unfavorable mix -- sales mix. The shift in mix was driven by the significant growth in shipments of portable generators and mobile products during the quarter, which carry lower gross margins relative to the consolidated corporate average." — CFO Q3 2017"

"We involved data specialists to assess management's estimate on reserve rates by recalculating historical reserve rates across multiple fiscal periods. We compared our independently developed historical reserve rates with the reserve rates used by management to evaluate management's ability to accurately estimate excess and obsolete inventory. — 2022 10-K"

""Sales advertising and other revenue increased by 22% as a result of a higher number of daily monetizable search grades we deliver to Microsoft Bing and others. Our daily number of searches was 17.7 million compared to 12.2 million last year. In addition, we added 13 new publishers to our network during the quarter." — Perion Q1'21 Earnings Announcement"

""Sales advertising and other revenue increased by 22% as a result of a higher number of daily monetizable search grades we deliver to Microsoft Bing and others. Our daily number of searches was 17.7 million compared to 12.2 million last year. In addition, we added 13 new publishers to our network during the quarter." — Perion Q1'21 earnings announcement"

"Gross margin for the quarter was 44.8%... Our gross margin for the quarter was approximately $25.2 million or 44.8% of revenue as compared to 40% in Q3 FY '21 and up from 38.3% in Q2. The increased gross margin reflects the impact of higher revenues in particular higher NGS revenues and thus leveraging our fixed costs. — James M. Thorburn, Twist CFO"

""In the near term, I would expect less profitability at the bottom line than what was previously disclosed." — Stephen Croskrey, CEO Danimer Scientific. "As I noted earlier, the Phase II expansion is now expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022 compared to our initial assumption of late 2021" — John Dowdy, CFO Danimer Scientific."

"“Our proprietary paresthesia-free HF10 therapy, delivered by our Senza system, was demonstrated in our SENZA-RCT study to be superior to traditional SCS therapy, with HF10 therapy being nearly twice as successful in treating back pain and 1.5 times as successful in treating leg pain when compared to traditional SCS therapy.” — Nevro 2020 10K"

"The SafeCharge one just felt off compared to those. — Former Nuvei Employee. I would say their targets for integration and migration were unrealistic. — Former Nuvei Employee. For me its odd to see everything in the black. There is a little bit of me that is saying, “ok, what accounting practices did you change?” — Former Nuvei Employee."

"The Applicant analyzed the effect of the 20 mg dose compared to placebo and the 40 mg dose compared to placebo in the stable dose period. The relative risk of cataplexy events in the 20 mg dosing group was 0.392 (95% CI [0.270, 0.571]; p < 0.0001) and 0.623 in the 40 mg dosing group (95% CI [0.510, 0.761]; p < 0.0001). — FDA Review"

"And I would just add, John, that with a really strong balance sheet, no debt, every comp store in the chain is contributing positive EBITDA. We're in a really nice situation, particularly compared to 8 years ago when that wasn't the case and maybe we did have to slow that a little bit or chose to slow that? — CFO Watkins"

"They wanted to see how their vehicles were performing, and what data we had compared to data we had. They wanted real time access to the XL Link, and we weren't able to give it to them. The company wouldn't allow it, because I think the data would not show in a favorable light what the vehicles were doing. — ComEd"

"Over time, anemia events were reported in approximately 18 percent of atrasentan patients compared with ten percent of placebo treated patients, with mean change in hemoglobin between groups of approximately one g/dL; these findings are consistent with mechanism-based hemodilution. — Chinook Therapeutics 2021 10-K"

""Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, excluding intangible amortization, increased approximately 50 basis points as compared to the prior year period due to the impact of recent acquisitions that have a higher operating expense load relative to sales, given their start-up nature." — CFO Ragen Q1 2022"

"It is a single flight which has very limited explanatory power, and it is not in a meaningful amount of dust, in being from an airport in a city environment as compared to Joby’s footage over the desert. A manufacturer would require 100’s or 1,000’s of flights to get a meaningful dataset. — Footnote 143"

"KLA is working on it...NuFlare is working on a tool and ASML has a division where they’re working on a multi-beam inspection tool...which means it has much better throughput compared to the Holon inspection tool. — Longtime, senior semicap equipment executive in Japan who is friendly with Lasertec’s CEO"

"For the 2020 financial year, we are planning an 8% decline in sales. The scil International Group is planning an 11% decline in sales in 2020 compared to the previous year. The reason for this is the expected discontinuation of a supplier, as he wants to sell his products directly. — Heska 2019 Report"

""On a $10,000 invoice they'll take a $4,000 to $5,000 deduction with no justification, an it takes us months to collect the money back," the vendor said. "When it comes to deductions, they're off the scale compared with other customers." — Unnamed vendor quoted in Wall Street Journal article."

"Our capital expenditures in 2009 included approximately $35.1 million of investments directly related to our Blue Ocean multi-year program of information technology investment compared with $16.2 million (Note: RESTATEMENT) in 2008 and $5.0 million in 2007. — Mettler-Toledo 2009 10-K"

"Talking to some of the study people, they really only see the effects of the 4 to 6 months on the drug...that's what I was told just to really see the effects, which is a little unusual compared to the data. — Division Chief for pediatric endocrinology at a major NE academic center"

"Every president has been a researcher from Kao, but compared to other companies, it seems that they lack marketing knowledge and management performance (...) the management is unable to provide appropriate marketing direction — Current Employee via Openwork (December 03, 2024)"

"Cash flows from operating activities increased $43.0 million in the first 13 weeks of 2018 compared to the first 13 weeks of 2017. Higher profits, lower inventories and lower management incentive payouts accounted for the increase in cash provided. — Weis Markets MD&A"

"The contributions of the Recent Acquisitions totalled $41 million. — Q1 2023 Report; The contributions of the Recent Acquisitions for the full period compared to partial contributions in the same period last fiscal year totalled $61 million. — Q2 2023 Report"

"“We believe PSX's business should justify a premium valuation relative to the group, given its chemical and midstream businesses should warrant a significant multiple uplift when compared to traditional refining assets…” — Raymond James, October 27, 2023"

"“We believe PSX's business should justify a premium valuation relative to the group, given its chemical and midstream businesses should warrant a significant multiple uplift when compared to traditional refining assets…” — Raymond James, October 27, 2023"

"“We believe PSX's business should justify a premium valuation relative to the group, given its chemical and midstream businesses should warrant a significant multiple uplift when compared to traditional refining assets…” — Raymond James, October 27, 2023"

""We also have an exceptional referral rate at 61%, compared to the industry average in the 30% range. It shows that our employees not only want to work for TaskUs, but they want their friends and families to also." — Nearshore Americas, Feb 4, 2019"

"“...As a result, our losses related to fixed assets and personnel expenses related to severance payments increased ¥12,704 million and ¥1,762 million, respectively, for the year ended March 31, 2013 compared to the previous year.” — FY 2012 20-F"

"…you should take into consideration the run rate increase in Patch expenses as compared to the approximately $75 million we spent in 2010… we’re going to spend $160 million a year this year on Patch… — AOL Chief Financial Officer"

"For the year, our e-commerce sales increased 30.2% year-over-year and on a 52-week to 52-week basis and accounted for 16.1% of our sales compared with 17.4% in 2020 and 9.4% in 2019. — Floor & Decor Q4 2021 Earnings Report"

"Compared to placebo, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and albuminuria decreased significantly, and measured GFR (inulin clearance) tended to decrease with atrasentan. — Source: Journal of Nephrology and Hypertension (2021)"

"Whirlpool Asia reported first-quarter net sales of $166 million compared to $187 million in the same prior-year period. Excluding the impact of currency, sales decreased approximately 4 percent. — Whirlpool"

"We estimate that retail sales during fiscal 2023 were approximately 55% from homeowners and 45% from Pros compared to approximately 58% from homeowners and 42% from Pros during fiscal 2022. — FND 10-Ks"

"On average, approximately 64.6% of our quarterly subscription-based paying membership accounts purchased our online marketing services in 2018 as compared to 60.2% in 2017. — 58.com 2018 20F"

"For the six months ended June 30, 2020, cash flow from operating activities was $82.0 million, an increase of 125.9% compared to the same period in the prior year — GFL Environmental Inc."

"“We believe U.S. towers could be the BBE (Best Business Ever) and should command a premium, compared to small cell/fiber systems or international towers.” — Raymond James, March 2020"

"“...we incurred an approximate 35% increase in scrap when producing units compared to the third quarter of 2023.” — Procept CFO Waters on Q4 2023 Earnings Call"

"DCCR may lower the frequency and severity of C-max related adverse events compared to diazoxide oral suspension. — 2018 poster by Soleno’s Neal Cowen"

"We want to be a company that is not compared to P&G or Unilever. — President Hasebe, Weekly Economist Interview, April 2021"

""Low salary compared to competitors and you have to jump through hoops to get any sort of rise." — Glassdoor Reviewer"