Callouts & quotes from 141+ activist slides

""...we left money on the table. For example, our staffing levels were not optimized given the reduced attendance in the first half..." — Selim Bassoul, CEO, Six Flags (NYSE: SIX), Q2 2022 SIX Earnings Conference Call, August 11th, 2022; "...the sustained improvements we are seeing in guest satisfaction and spending per capita and our improved October results give me confidence we are moving in the right direction." — Selim Bassoul, CEO, Six Flags (NYSE: SIX), Q3 2022 SIX Earnings Conference Call, November 10th, 2022"

"There have been some OK acquisitions, but very little consistency from management, and the execution has been poor. But there has been pressure to continue to pursue M&A to grow the company for shareholders, and to increase comp. There was also major pressure to hit quarterly numbers – and I felt it. We originally had longer-term financial planning – around three to five years. That was eventually reduced to fiscal year targets, and now to monthly targets under [new CEO John] Groetelaars. — Former Employee, Hill-Rom"

""[O]ur performance was strengthened by our guiding principle to always attack waste... This included an effort to begin rationalizing our facilities and organizational assignments to drive unnecessary expense out of the business and to improve our customer intimacy by delayering the organization. We remain focused on executing our global pipeline of opportunities to improve our efficiency and reduce our waste. This will remain a major focus in fiscal year '08 and beyond." — Tony Aquila, CEO, President, Chairman"

"We're really going to try to get the algorithm right to cut where we can and not necessarily do things the same way. As I mentioned, we're also using technology to reduce some of our operating costs, and that gives us a little bit of headroom also to absorb some inflation. But we're really trying to use our heads here to come up with a way to kind of mitigate some of these challenges that we have. — Christine McCarthy, The Walt Disney Company – Senior EVP & CFO, November 10, 2021 – FY 2021 Earnings Call"

"An increase in transportation costs could have an adverse effect on our ability to increase or to maintain production on a profit-making basis and could therefore adversely affect our revenues and earnings. Because transportation costs represent a significant portion of the total cost of coal for our customers, increases in transportation costs could also reduce overall demand for coal or make our coal production less competitive than coal produced from other sources or other regions. — AMR Disclosures"

""The other thing that they're not showing is separator thickness across the board...I mean, if they reported separator thickness, that would go a long way toward answering these questions." — Solid-state expert; "One of the solutions was to make the separator thicker, and that typically reduces the performance of the cell, and it quickly negates a lot of the advantages that solid-state gives ...If they say they can make a separator that works, but they won't tell us how thick it is..." — Ex-employee"

"I think for soybean and corn trading, it's going to be challenging. It's not that Bunge plus Viterra will be 1+1=two. 1+one would be 1.5, to be very honest, because there were overlaps. I know Viterra operation in Brazil very well. I think most places where Viterra operated, Bunge will reduce because Viterra would trade with a lot of commercials, companies that Bunge, Cargill, and ADM would not trade with. They would definitely reduce volume, especially for the initial years. — ADM Director"

"I suspect I would have concerns about trying to swallow a tablet...yeah, I'm just thinking that's not going to work. The bottom line is this is going to be a challenge, and an oral solution or even an injection would be preferable to a daily pill of this size that has to be taken whole. That is a factor that's going to reduce the immediate applicability... that might substantially limit the second prescription. — Endocrinologist; academic and community hospital affiliations."

""In July 2016, the Company's office in London was closed in connection with worldwide group restructuring efforts to reduce loss-making activities. Effective December 1, 2016, the Company ceased it's primary trading activities. The Company is now in the process of winding down its affairs will continue to wind down during the course of 2017. It is expected that all final corporate matters will be formally resolved by September 30, 2018" — Morinda UK Ltd. financial records"

"In July 2016, the Company’s office in London was closed in connection with worldwide group restructuring efforts to reduce loss-making activities. Effective December 1, 2016, the Company ceased it’s primary trading activities. The Company is now in the process of winding down its affairs will continue to wind down during the course of 2017. It is expected that all final corporate matters will be formally resolved by September 30, 2018 — Morinda UK Ltd. financial records"

"“When our [Marvell senior executive - title redacted] went to go visit, they were trying to also offer additional A150’s that they had on the books that weren’t, let’s say, being taken ownership of by other competitors that had presumably forecasted that they needed them. And so, we were getting a reduced price as well if we wanted to purchase additional A150s and that price was closer to about, in the range of $15 to 30 million.” — Senior employee at Marvell Technology"

"“When our [Marvell senior executive - title redacted] went to go visit, they were trying to also offer additional A150’s that they had on the books that weren’t, let’s say, being taken ownership of by other competitors that had presumably forecasted that they needed them. And so, we were getting a reduced price as well if we wanted to purchase additional A150s and that price was closer to about, in the range of $15 to 30 million.” — Senior employee at Marvell Technology"

"“When our [Marvell senior executive – title redacted] went to go visit, they were trying to also offer additional A150’s that they had on the books that weren’t, let’s say, being taken ownership of by other competitors that had presumably forecasted that they needed them. And so, we were getting a reduced price as well if we wanted to purchase additional A150s and that price was closer to about, in the range of $15 to 30 million.” — Senior employee at Marvell Technology"

"“When our [Marvell senior executive - title redacted] went to go visit, they were trying to also offer additional A150’s that they had on the books that weren’t, let’s say, being taken ownership of by other competitors that had presumably forecasted that they needed them. And so, we were getting a reduced price as well if we wanted to purchase additional A150s and that price was closer to about, in the range of $15 to 30 million.” — Senior employee at Marvell Technology"

""We are working to improve the reliability and performance of our solid-state separator, including decreasing the thickness." — QuantumScape 10K. "We are likely to encounter engineering challenges as we increase the dimensions, reduce the thickness and increase the volume of our solid-state separators. If we are not able to overcome these barriers in developing and producing its solid-state separators at commercial volumes, our business could fail." — QuantumScape 10K."

""Heska's climbed to the top of the innovation and value creation chain. Heska now leads in product breadth, features, benefits, competitiveness and satisfaction." — Wilson at Investor Day November 2020; "Our reliance on less controllable third-party engaged lines is now greatly reduced in relative impact. We control our own performance through our own good work." — Wilson at Investor Day November 2020; "We are a fully transformed company..." — Q4 2020 Earnings Release"

"The purchase price for this acquisition totaled $92,678. The remaining amount consists of a contingent consideration of $3,004 which is contingent upon meeting certain performance metrics. Since the initial purchase price allocation was estimated, contingent consideration has been reduced by $4,000 and trade and other payables have increased by $650 and those adjustments have been reflected as an adjustment of $3,350 to goodwill. — Nuvei Q2'21 Financials, p.9"

""Khosla Ventures II and Khosla Ventures III had dismal returns, at less than 5% IRR as of March, 2016. This track record reduced their credibility and made their future fundraising efforts much more difficult." — Harvard Business School; "Once the very embodiment of Silicon Valley venture capital, the storied firm has suffered a two-decade losing streak. It missed the era's hottest companies, took a disastrous detour into renewable energy...." — Fortune"

"[I]t is unusual for an executive chairman to be compensated at a significantly higher level than the company’s CEO and the proxy does not provide a compelling reason for this arrangement... The proxy does not adequately explain why investors should bear the costs for him to remain the most highly compensated NEO even when his apparent role and responsibilities within the company are reduced. — Institutional Shareholder Services – 2021 Disney Report"

"“We are surprised the Company’s investor presentations continue to center on tactical efforts, like FastBreak Lunch and Wing Tuesday, and secondary strategic priorities, like international development and new concepts, rather than full explanations for why traffic is declining, how costs will be reduced or why the business model is appropriate. It is not clear to us the issues and alternatives are fully understood” — Chris O’Cull, Keybanc, 2/7/17"

"The development of H3R antagonists was complicated by the similarities between the pharmacophores of H3R and human Ether-à-go-go related gene (hERG) channel blockers, a fact that probably prevented promising compounds from being progressed into the clinic. — Abstract from Using Electrophysiology and In Silico Three-Dimensional Modeling to Reduce Human Ether-à-go-go Related Gene K+ Channel Inhibition in a Histamine H3 Receptor Antagonist Program"

"The transaction is based on a cash consideration of USD 1.81 billion, which includes a tax benefit with a net present value of USD 200 million. The $200 million tax benefit comes from an election made by the seller as part of the transaction, resulting in amortizable goodwill for tax purposes, allowing us to reduce annually the amount of tax that WSP will have to pay in the future. — CFO Michaud, John Wood E&I Acquisition Call, June 1, 2022"

"The Commission tested the communication of advertisements containing testimonials that clearly and prominently disclosed either "Results not typical" or the stronger "These testimonials are based on the experiences of a few people and you are not likely to have similar results." Neither disclosure adequately reduced the communication that the experiences depicted are generally representative. — FTC Section 255.2 Consumer Endorsements"

"In a somewhat surprising tactic, PSX management talked down the potential SOTP upside (i.e.. [stating that the Company is] fairly valued), with ~1.0x multiple market premium vs. peers reflective of some of that value capture... [PSX considers the] potential uplift would be further reduced by meaningful compression on the "remainco", with the stand-alone Refining business closer to a 5.0x EBITDA business... — Piper Sandler, March 2025"

"“In a somewhat surprising tactic, PSX management talked down the potential SOTP upside (i.e.. [stating that the Company is] fairly valued), with ~1.0x multiple market premium vs. peers reflective of some of that value capture… [PSX considers the] potential uplift would be further reduced by meaningful compression on the “remainco”, with the stand-alone Refining business closer to a 5.0x EBITDA business…” — Piper Sandler, March 2025"

"It has to do with, I think, what's fairly typical in a major merger, which is purchase price adjustments and valuations as to fair value and life, in our case, of satellites on orbit. So that work continued on into the quarter past the point where we provided our previous guidance. And the expected life of assets on orbit was increased modestly, which reduced the annual depreciation associated with those assets. — CEO Howard Lance"

""Disney has an incredible legacy as one of the leading and most successful consumer entertainment companies in the world... But in recent years, the Company has lost its way resulting in a rapid deterioration in its financial performance from a consistent dividend-paying, high free cash flow generative business into a highly leveraged enterprise with reduced earnings power and weak free cash flow conversion," said Nelson Peltz."

"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"

"Great brands define markets. As a leading branded consumer products company, Heinz must make marketing and innovation its core competency... Trian believes Heinz should reduce the amount that it currently spends on deals and allowances (20% of gross revenue) and reinvest those funds in creative consumer advertising, innovative new products and packaging and cross-marketing initiatives — Trian White Paper: May 23, 2006"

"Beyond the impact of a large project sales in New England in the first quarter of last year, we orchestrated a managed reduction of new sales activity in Southern California and Tampa. Our actions in Southern California were intended to reduce risk while we transition management and stabilize the operation, similar to the plan we executed successfully in the Mid-Atlantic operation. — Q1'20 Earnings Call"

"To hear CareDx tell it, AlloSure is the long sought-after silver bullet for rejection diagnosis, with the potential to “revolutionize the treatment of kidney transplant patients.” It can help physicians “detect rejection of a donated organ earlier and more accurately” than traditional blood-based measures of kidney function and “reduce the use of invasive biopsies.” — CareDx (marketing materials)"

"“Rather than say that it's the volume, it's always better to move forward with a better product mix in terms of the profitability.” — Nagamori (Q1 2012 call). “I believe that the capacity question was in regard to spindle motors and in terms of excess capacity there, whereas there are three factories in Thailand currently, the idea is to reduce by one factory.” — Nagamori (Q2 2012 call)."

""[U]nification will reduce complexity and costs, provide greater strategic flexibility, enhance Brambles' position as a leading company on the ASX and eliminate the differential between the share prices of Brambles Industries Limited on the ASX and Brambles Industries plc...." — Don Argus while Chairman of Brambles (Jac Nasser was a Director of Brambles at that time), November 29, 2005"

"The first $500 million of synergies is expected to create a company with EBITDA margins of over 20% and annual EBITDA of over $3 billion, giving us the firepower to reduce the leverage ratio to 3 times to 3.5 times within two years to three years and then, subsequently, to deploy capital to create further value beyond our organic agenda. — CEO Michael Polk – Q4 2015 Earnings Call"

"“Against Engine’s ‘advice’ to not attempt a debt refinancing, and its hyperbolic posturing, the Company refinanced its debt on more favourable terms that materially reduced its debt service cashflows, staggered and extended its maturities, and saved the Company approximately CAD $20 million annualized in net interest costs.” — Dye & Durham Board (September 25, 2024)"

"ATTR-ACT Showed that Tafamidis Significantly Reduced the Combination of All-cause Mortality and Cardiovascular-related Hospitalizations Data Showed a 30% Reduction in the Risk of Mortality and 32% Reduction in the Rate of Cardiovascular-related Hospitalizations with Tafamidis in People with Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy versus Placebo — Pfizer Press Release"

"ATTR-ACT Showed that Tafamidis Significantly Reduced the Combination of All-cause Mortality and Cardiovascular-related Hospitalizations Data Showed a 30% Reduction in the Risk of Mortality and 32% Reduction in the Rate of Cardiovascular-related Hospitalizations with Tafamidis in People with Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy versus Placebo — Pfizer Press Release"

"During the fourth quarter of 2020, changes in mine plans and the determination that certain mineral reserves previously forecasted to be mined were no longer considered economic due to poor geologic conditions reduced forecasted cash flows for one Met and one CAPP - Thermal asset group to amounts below those required for full recoverability. — AMR 10-K, p. 106"

"In Q2, I briefly discuss the increase in account receivable as a result of our strong revenue growth. We saw the impact of strong revenue growth on receivables again in Q3 as AR increased by $29.7 million from Q2 of 2021. We are implementing a new order to cash process as we onboard, new clients and expect to reduce our DSO in 2022. — CFO on Q3'21 Conf Call"

"Upon transition from CEO to Executive Chair on March 1, Mr. Gustafsson's base salary was reduced to $200,000 and he ceased participation in the 2023 Zebra Incentive Plan as of that date. Additionally, he received a one-time $9,000,000 equity award of time-vested RSUs that vest as of the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. — Zebra Executive Chair Agreement"

"In a somewhat surprising tactic, PSX management talked down the potential SOTP upside (ie. [stating that the Company is] fairly valued)... [PSX considers the] potential uplift would be further reduced by meaningful compression on the “remainco”, with the stand-alone Refining business closer to a 5.0x EBITDA business... — Piper Sandler, March 2025"

"In a somewhat surprising tactic, PSX management talked down the potential SOTP upside (ie. [stating that the Company is] fairly valued)... [PSX considers the] potential uplift would be further reduced by meaningful compression on the “remainco”, with the stand-alone Refining business closer to a 5.0x EBITDA business... — Piper Sandler, March 2025"

"Should the providers of platforms, particularly browsers, further block, constrain or limit our ability to offer or change search properties, or materially change their guidelines, technology or the way they operate, our ability to generate revenue from our users' search activity could be significantly reduced. — Perion 2021 20-F / 2022 20-F"

"One of the consistent highlights for the business has been our working capital performance. And on a like-for-like basis, the working capital to sales ratio has improved by 30 basis points in the half to 10.4%. We will maintain our focus in this area to reduce this ratio further over time. — CFO Casamento, Feb 11, 2020 Conf Call"

"In its interim report published in late November 2016, Huishan announced that it deliberately lowered milk yields to 7.8 tons “to further reduce the cost of raw milk and control our production volume.” — Huishan Announcement of Interim Results for the Six Months Ended September 30, 2016 (published 29 November 2016), p. 41."

"There would be scope to reduce or eliminate any residual circular or cross-shareholdings that remain after the merger between Samsung Holdco and Samsung C&T, as part of, for example, a demerger of Samsung Holdco into a Samsung General Holding Company (Samsung GHC) and Samsung Financial Holding Company (Samsung FHC)."

""[We] have decided to reshape our company and stay true to our strategy. We plan to simplify BHP Billiton's portfolio with a demerger and unlock value for shareholders as we focus even more on our largest businesses, reduce costs and improve productivity more quickly...." — Andrew Mackenzie, CEO, February 18, 2014"

"In a separate action, the board voted to reduce for 2003 the management fee rate to 24 percent from the current 25 percent... this action was taken after the board's consideration and review of the relative financial position of the Erie Insurance Exchange and the Erie Indemnity Company. — Company Transcripts"

"This [recent cost cutting] move is part of a larger effort to simplify our management structure, speed decision making and reduce costs. We are reallocating our workload and assets in order to invest in areas of higher growth, including online and new launches. — Ann Moore, Chairman and CEO of Publishing"

""Reduce the causes of climate change and support the transition to a low carbon economy by encouraging and enabling the use of low and zero carbon technologies, supporting the development of appropriate renewable energy sources and sustainable and active transport" — County Durham Plan (CDP) Objective 17"

"“When we reduce your fleet’s emissions we work with and invest in projects that have been certified to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. We follow strict guidelines and protocols and retire certified carbon credits on a leading public registry [American Carbon Registry].” — Clean Advantage website"

""You will recall that length of stay is among the most important return on investment considerations for hospital administrators as it represents an opportunity to reduce non-reimbursed costs, while also freeing up beds more quickly for the next reimbursed patients." — Mehren (Q119 earnings call)"

"“We have tried to do everything we could earlier this year when they went to every landlord and asked for rent reductions and concessions,” Mr. Chilelli said. “If they are able to reduce their footprint, it will hurt the office market again.” — Joey Chilelli, Managing Director at Vanbarton Group"

""In fact, our St. Joe beaches have been fortunate to experience minimal tar balls recently and have necessitated fewer workers to accomplish the slight clean-up required. We have similarly reduced the number of private workers required to maintain our beautiful beaches." — JOE Website"

"Finally, the fourth major trend deals with the use of big data, neural networks related to machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics to increase our clients' efficiency and reduce cost in evaluating their reservoirs. — Core CEO David Demshur, Q1 2017 earnings call"

"“...if you have hyperglycemia and diabetes, and you have edema and heart failure, and I do believe there were a couple of patients hospitalized with heart failure just to reduce appetite, it may not be a risk worth taking.” — Ex-Soleno employee #1, key role in clinical trial program"

"In 2023, Chevron’s Management Compensation Committee (MCC) reduced Hearne’s compensation “as a consequence of cost and schedule slippage on major capital project in Kazakhstan, capex overrun in the Permian Basin, and safety performance.” — Chevron Corporation Definitive Proxy"

"In 2023, Chevron's Management Compensation Committee (MCC) reduced Hearne's compensation "as a consequence of cost and schedule slippage on major capital project in Kazakhstan, capex overrun in the Permian Basin, and safety performance." — Chevron Corporation Definitive Proxy"

"Although the resulting leverage exceeds the level appropriate for a ‘BBB-’ rating on an ongoing basis, the ratings incorporate S&P's expectations that Cox has the capacity and commitment to reduce consolidated debt to EBITDA within two years to the low-to-mid 4x area. — S&P"

""For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company obtained the use of various assets through operating and finance leases, which reduced the level of capital expenditures that would have otherwise been necessary to operate its business." — Limbach 2024 10-K"