Contrarian Corpus
Phrase library

Callouts & quotes from 10,384+ activist slides

Every emphasised callout and every pulled quote, extracted slide-by-slide. Search by keyword, filter by slide type or by source.

Showing 3601–3660 of 10,384
quote villain critique

"In addition to capital, what entrepreneurs really need is access to the broad expertise required to build a successful retail business. We see a tremendous opportunity to leverage Campfire's collective experience and relationships to further brand and scale FIGS to transform this $9 billion unbranded industry. — Christine Day, Partner at Campfire, current CEO of Luvo and ex-CEO of lululemon"

FIGS, Inc. · FIGS Spruce Point Capital · p. 16
quote villain critique

"Over the last several years, your Board and management team have taken strategic actions to transform SandRidge into the leading operator in the Mississippian Lime play of northern Oklahoma and western Kansas. These actions have established SandRidge as an industry leader in what is widely considered to be one of the most valuable oil-rich basins in the United States. — SandRidge Management"

SandRidge Energy · SD TPG-Axon · p. 4
quote ceo quote

"We purchase inventory in advance based on expected demand for our products, and if demand is not as expected, we may have insufficient or excess inventory, which could adversely impact our financial position. Our manufacturing lead times are generally 8 to 16 weeks and we often build inventory in advance of customer orders based on our forecast of future customer orders — MPWR Annual Report"

Monolithic Power Systems · MPWR Spruce Point Capital · p. 38
quote villain critique

""[The] biggest opportunity is to find a way to go to market and deliver your product in a 2017 manner vs. a 1987 manner... I don't think you need as many people as you do." — Former VP Business Transformation; "[An] excessive percent of headcount is necessary to help them differentiate on service; competitive products [are] designed for self-sufficiency." — Former VP Business Transformation"

quote villain critique

""If this is a real dendrite-resistance achievement, it needs to be done at 30-degrees Celsius. Why did the temperature go up? What happened at 30C? That's something we really want to know. That kind of trick for collaging data together from different cell setups is really a big no-no. That's a red flag. Show me the 30-degree Celsius data." — Leading solid-state battery expert and researcher"

QuantumScape · QS Scorpion Capital · p. 67
quote villain critique

"“Someone who still works on that project says that it's still a very arts and crafts-like process, which means it's very sensitive to who's doing it, so that's why it's probably not robust.” — Former employee; “The chances of this getting broken are probably astronomically high. For sure it was high in what I saw. The separator itself would break for manual labor reasons.” — Former employee"

QuantumScape · QS Scorpion Capital · p. 139
quote peer gap

"For the twelve-month period ended on December 31, 2018, the Specialty Cheese Business generated revenues of approximately A$192 million (CDN$182 million) and later revised at closing to For the twelve-month period ended on December 31, 2018, the Specialty Cheese Business generated revenues of approximately A$192 million (approximately CDN$171.1 million). — Saputo 2018 and 2019 Annual Report"

Saputo Inc. · TSX:SAP Spruce Point Capital · p. 98
quote villain critique

"The promise of higher oil was definitely used as a reason for why we could see an acceleration in sales. The biggest input in that [calculator] equation is oil prices... I don't think most of our customers expect to be using this for the next 10 years. — XL Former Employee D; Someone would probably not save money at $13k [per kit] on a pure fuel basis. — Fleet Manager and Former XL Customer"

XL Fleet Corp · XL Muddy Waters · p. 23
quote nominee bio

"“The status quo is no longer acceptable! The Board must steer and oversee a review of the operating performance and hold management accountable for improvement. I welcome the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and work side-by-side with Phillips 66 employees to drive improvement - we need their collective knowledge and buy in to quickly turn the operating performance around.” — Brian Coffman"

Phillips 66 · PSX Elliott Management · p. 80
quote peer gap

"Based on the 2023 AGM proxy filing list of companies used as a reference for compensation benchmarking purposes. These are companies “that are in our industry or have similar lines of business, are competitors for our executive talent, are large, complex organizations with global reach and / or similarly sized from a revenue and market capitalization perspective” — Bluebell Capital Partners"

BlackRock · BLK Bluebell Capital · p. 15
quote villain critique

"“Nevro cherry-picked the lowest hanging fruit at launch. They went to the 25 best places like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta. They went to teaching institutions who are receptive to new stuff. It’s a lot easier to get from 0% to 15% share than from 15% to 30%. Zero to 3% is hard, 3% to 10% is easy, and after 15% it’s trying to grow in Buffalo versus New York City.” — Medtronic SCS executive"

Nevro Corp. · NVRO Scorpion Capital · p. 123
quote ceo quote

"This strategy is completely incoherent — Foreign Buyside Analyst; The management team seems to think highly of K27, but the reality is that it is not working well. — Domestic Buyside Analyst; There are a lot of things in the plan that are unclear. — Domestic Buyside Analyst; We often hear about abstract concepts, but we are not clear on their specific initiatives. — Domestic Buyside Analyst"

Kao Corporation · 4452.JP Oasis Management · p. 127
quote villain critique

"Our child has a new endo and while speaking with them I got into the topic of vykat and if they've prescribed it. They stated they had patients (I'm assuming in the trial?) that were shaving their foreheads from the excessive hair growth. Was this reported at all? I understand hirsutism is a side effect but was it on random body parts? — Anonymous member, Prader-Willi Support Facebook group"

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 181
quote villain critique

"“The cost is absolutely outrageous...my concern is certainly, is this cost-effective? And if they are charging half a million to $1 million per person, that is very expensive for a drug that isn’t that novel ...it’s hard to justify the cost of the diazoxide, the normal formulation, which the Proglycem is about $800 a bottle.” — Trial investigator, endocrinologist, key opinion leader for PWS"

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 334
quote villain critique

"the HQ-CT score, it’s not a great marker...it’s a subjective core...will vary depending on...whether it’s the mom, dad, or grandparents; the median score of 20, that’s a very high score...most of my patients are nowhere near that...is it just placebo effect goes down for the score from 23 down to 15...is that really the drug? — Trial investigator, endocrinologist, key opinion leader for PWS"

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 332
quote ceo quote

""The 071 hit the ground running and we're getting great feedback. And we estimate that we're somewhere around 15% of this market already, well ahead of our plans. We see ourselves getting to 25% by the end of the fiscal year and we think we'll eventually get to 50% of this aspiration market." — Geoffrey Martha, Executive Vice President and President of Restorative Therapies Group, Medtronic"

Penumbra, Inc. · PEN Spruce Point Capital · p. 26
quote villain critique

"Spousal Liability. Your spouse must sign a document that makes your spouse liable for all financial obligations under the franchise agreement even though your spouse has no ownership interest ... This guarantee will place both your and your spouse's marital and personal assets, perhaps including your house, at risk if your franchise fails. — Goosehead Insurance Franchise Disclosure Document"

Goosehead Insurance, Inc. · GSHD Wolfpack Research · p. 3
quote ceo quote

"No. TSMC is not happy with Lasertec so far...It's the throughput. It's very expensive, but the throughput is slow. TSMC just wants to do quite frequent monitoring. Every day, they check the mask. A quick check. If you go through a quick check, the best resolution is not necessary. It's not necessary. — Longtime ex-TSMC procurement executive who introduced Lasertec inspection tools into TSMC"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 217
quote ceo quote

""The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this prospectus may prove to be inaccurate. Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate, including as a result of any of the risks described in this prospectus." — FIGS IPO Prospectus, p. 52"

FIGS, Inc. · FIGS Spruce Point Capital · p. 34
quote ceo quote

""During the fourth quarter, we achieved our strategic priority targets for shareholder distributions and asset dispositions." — Mark Lashier, January 31, 2025; "Yesterday afternoon PSX announced it will acquire Pinnacle Midstream for $550mm... While the deal looks fine on its own, we suspect investors will react negatively to PSX's decision on capital allocation." — TPH & Co., May 21, 2024"

Phillips 66 · PSX Elliott Management · p. 33
quote villain critique

""The Meridian-Wylie Route represents a significant component of NS's commercial and operational offerings to intermodal customers [...] Preserving NS's ability to meet its intermodal customers' needs with competitive rates and services over that line is a primary focus for NS." — Trains.com, "Norfolk Southern says CPKC merger threatens Meridian Speedway intermodal business," March 2, 2022."

quote thesis headline

""Baker Hughes is a marriage that is not working. The people are not happy. They can't sell the C3 product. It's a nightmare for them to sell it. The culture of C3 is so different that they can't work together." — Former C3 employee; "Baker Hughes just invested and entered a JV with a company called Augury and they can do everything that C3 is currently doing for them." — Former C3 employee"

C3.ai, Inc. · AI Spruce Point Capital · p. 7
quote precedent table

"“Plans that invoke the cram down power often provide for installment payments over a period of years rather than a single payment. In such circumstances, the amount of each installment must be calibrated to ensure that, over time, the creditor receives disbursements whose total present value equals or exceeds that of the allowed claim.” — Opinion of Justice Stevens, Till v. SCS Credit Corp"

General Growth Properties · GGWPQ Pershing Square · p. 40
quote villain critique

"Notwithstanding the three prior clauses [in Article 7.1], statements (including without limitation those Mr. Jiang Nanchun from Focus Media Holdings Ltd. made to the principal of Party A on November 27, 2009) as to why Party B is assigning the equity to Party A, whether oral or written, shall be guaranteed by Party B and Party B's representative. — Equity assignment contract Article 7.1(4)"

quote ceo quote

"“I've said this many times before, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the TiO2 industry as much as this is a business that when you start looking at the core performance, if you look at Huntsman without TiO2, we would be going into 2016 here...with some of the highest margins we've ever had in our history and with better than GDP growth.” — Peter Huntsman, President & CEO, April 2016"

Huntsman Corporation · HUN Starboard Value · p. 76
quote villain critique

"In 2019, CPIPG issued bonds in Hong Kong Dollars and US Dollars totaling €362 million equivalent via our EMTN programme, and completed schuldschein loans for €170 million. Proceeds were used to refinance debt including a bridge loan related to our UK acquisition and drawings under our revolving credit facility; some of the proceeds will also be held in cash. — CPI PG 2018 Management Report"

quote peer gap

"There’s not really people who are coming out marketing or branding getting into the top ranks — Kao Japan Former Brand Manager, Oasis Interview, 2023. Kao’s CMO is effectively Nishiguchi... [he] is more of a sales guy and does not have the experience or ability to manage brands... Kao really should bring in a CMO from outside — Kao Former, Corporate Strategy Division, Oasis Interview 2023."

Kao Corporation · 4452.JP Oasis Management · p. 81
quote villain critique

"“I was actually one of the top three surgeons...I probably did 100 to 150 livers.” — Former procurement surgeon. “I see some transplant centers are using them on so many organs that don't need to go on the pump.” — Former procurement surgeon. “Yeah, some centers are using them as a recovery service as long as somebody else is going to pay this chunk of money.” — Former procurement surgeon."

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 189
quote villain critique

""it's pretty quiet overall... what I'm not hearing people say, when can I get my hands on Vykat? Because we all know diazoxide, and we all know the problems with it. It's not like we're clueless. I'll put it this way...this somewhat surprising and out of the blue approval that I don't think any of us were quite expecting." — PWS endocrinologist #1; "that's rubbish" — PWS endocrinologist #1"

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 74
quote appendix data

"I know it doesn't fully work. It's just part of the cocktail, and it's harmless — Prescriber #5. I think that this drug is a little 'meh' — Prescriber #6. I haven't had a single patient who said, oh my god, this is so much better — Prescriber #6. it's been harder...I've been writing more letters and appeals...pain in the ass to prescribe — Prescriber #7. I do not run EKG's — Prescriber #8."

Harmony Biosciences Holdings · HRMY Scorpion Capital · p. 250
quote villain critique

"“there’s always pressure...they put reps in a very awkward position...you want to make money, and not that I would do it, but like the whole cataplexy thing, for instance....” “I’m glad to be out of pharma now, that’s all I could say...the way that they compensate, you have to be a very ethical person....” — Ex-Harmony territory manager for a large region in the southeast across two states"

Harmony Biosciences Holdings · HRMY Scorpion Capital · p. 328
quote villain critique

"“Marvell has also received that award...[it] is really sitting inside a cubicle that nobody uses...it’s not something that we write home about...yeah we’ll do a press release...but nobody talks about it”; “Intel is not a cutting-edge company in this day and age by any means...so if Intel is giving out awards...it’s not even worth its weight in salt.” — Senior employee at Marvell Technology"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 202
quote villain critique

"“The nuance here is that Allied is required to mark to long term value, not mark to market.” — Sell side analyst from one of Allied’s underwriters. “We’re committed to transparency and full disclosure.” — Mr. Walton, May 16th conference call. “In today’s senior loan environment we are seeing sales as well as discounts that are clearly in the money.” — Mr. Walton, May 29th conference call."

Allied Capital · ALD Greenlight Capital · p. 18
quote nominee bio

"The status quo is no longer acceptable! The Board must steer and oversee a review of the operating performance and hold management accountable for improvement. I welcome the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and work side-by-side with Phillips 66 employees to drive improvement - we need their collective knowledge and buy in to quickly turn the operating performance around. — Brian Coffman"

Phillips 66 · PSX Elliott Management · p. 79
quote ceo quote

""It's not surprising to me [that big pharma/biotech customers don't utilize their machines much] because they have two applications they talk about. There's so much more you have to do once you discover the antibody, and the Beacon accelerated a part of that total workflow, but it didn't accelerate everything else, so you push the bottleneck somewhere else." — Gingko Bioworks executive #1"

Berkeley Lights · BLI Scorpion Capital · p. 129
quote villain critique

"Compensation to China sales employees and service fees to China licensed business providers totaling $87.3 million $79.1 million and $70.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively, are included in selling, general and administrative expenses while distributor compensation for all other countries is included in royalty overrides. — Herbalife 2010 Form 10-K"

Herbalife Ltd. · HLF Pershing Square · p. 45
quote villain critique

""ITG [USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group] previously notified you of these calls and provided you access to supporting data identifying each call—including a recording of the illegal robocall" and that "the numerous traceback notices directed to Inteliquent, Inc. indicate that you are apparently routing and transmitting illegal robocall traffic knowingly." — May 2022, FTC Warning Letter"

Sinch AB · SINCH Grizzly Research · p. 8
quote ceo quote

"“GT's management has argued that both of these issues, pricing and market share, can be improved through more direct control of distribution. And GT has recently taken a dramatic step in this direction through the formation of Tirehub, a new Wholesale Distribution JV with Bridgestone; but, this has introduced a number of very significant risks.” — Rod Lache, Deutsche Bank, April 25, 2018"

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company · GT Elliott Management · p. 23
quote ceo quote

""We put a lot of their pumps in our systems. So it makes a lot of sense. They are a very complementary company with what we do with water. They've always been viewed as a peer of ours because we both operate in the water treatment segment or the water segment as a whole. But never as a competitor of ours, more of a partner." — Evoqua CEO Keating, Pittsburgh Business Journal, Jan 23, 2023"

Xylem Inc. · XYL Spruce Point Capital · p. 50
quote ceo quote

"“You have that good slide that you used where you talk about the core and the adjacencies and expansion markets and growing expected longer-term mid-single, high single and low double digit, respectively. I'm just wondering, in your outlook for the next year, can you frame it in terms of those 3 categories, what you're expecting for growth in those 3 categories.” — Blair Analyst, Q1 2024"

Zebra Technologies Corp. · ZBRA Spruce Point Capital · p. 32
quote ceo quote

"More than 70 of our top 100 accounts now use Context Control. — CFO Pergola; 80 of our top 100 accounts now use Context Control for avoidance, up from 76 of our top 100 accounts last quarter. — CEO Utzschneider; We launched context control, Actually, in the height of Covid, in March of 2020... In the US alone, 86 of our top 100 advertisers have adopted context control. — CEO Utzschneider"

DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. · DV Spruce Point Capital · p. 26
quote kpi overview

"We have a clear point of view that the future of search is an integrated experience across search, answers, chat and creating... The value proposition that we see for publishers specifically as we go forward is driving more traffic and clicks - not less - and ensuring that publishers and partners earn more money. — Ms. Kya Sainsbury-Carter, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Advertising"

Perion Network Ltd. · PERI Spruce Point Capital · p. 65
quote ceo quote

"“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)."

Nidec Corp. · 6594 JP Muddy Waters · p. 14
quote villain critique

"“Fuji has acquired Hitachi Medical Systems and Sonosite in the U.S., each for a billion dollars or more. They are very serious about the U.S. market. They have the diagnostic expertise, and they find the veterinary market very interesting. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to go direct in the U.S. That kind of thing happens in this industry.” — FUJIFILM Medical Products Distributor"

Heska Corporation · HSKA Spruce Point Capital · p. 34
quote villain critique

"“... I have not gotten a single sale from someone who has seen my ad on Patch, so I can’t say I’m very happy with the prices I’ve had to pay to advertise....” — Local advertiser on Patch, March 2012; “... It has been two months and I haven’t gotten any results from Patch. If I do not see any return in the next month, I’m going to stop using Patch.” — Local advertiser on Patch, March 2012"

AOL, Inc. · AOL Starboard Value · p. 34
quote villain critique

"NEW YORK -- The leader of a secretive group in upstate New York turned female followers into brainwashed "slaves" who were branded with his initials and coerced into having sex, authorities alleged on Monday in a criminal complaint charging him with sex-trafficking. Keith Raniere, co-founder of the group called Nxivm, was arrested in Mexico and returned to Texas Monday, authorities said."

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. · ELF Spruce Point Capital · p. 14
quote ceo quote

"There are features of this study that may limit generalizability. For example, identification and AST were mostly performed using the MicroScan WalkAway-96 plus system (University of Texas Southwestern [UTSW] did switch to MALDI-TOF during the study). Also, the MicroScan panels were set up and batched every morning (not put on the instrument for 24 h per day). — J Clin Microbiol 2019; 58"

Accelerate Diagnostics · AXDX White Diamond Research · p. 13
quote villain critique

"“they don’t have it now, without giving too much info on that – they don’t have it...it will require replacement of their optics because...if they open up the aperture, the optics will block....they cannot do it right now...they need...a different curvature, different figure elements – it’s a massive upgrade.” — Former KLA executive in a leadership role in their EUV mask inspection group"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 162
quote villain critique

"“the optics are much more complicated and they need significantly more light...that’s why they are struggling...they moved to Ushio...they’re still struggling...they have to move to something else.” — Leading figure in the development of Cymer/ASML’s EUV light source; headed EUV source effort at one of the largest semicap equipment companies; one of the top scientist/experts in the field"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 175
quote villain critique

"“they placed an order, I think, for 10 tools, so they cannot come out with any negative papers [about Lasertec]”; “even upper management who accepted the purchase order will be put in an awkward situation...TSMC is a very hierarchical company...you don’t want to make any superior people look bad.” — Longtime, senior semicap equipment executive in Japan who is friendly with Lasertec’s CEO"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 207
quote ceo quote

"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"

Remitly Global, Inc. · RELY Spruce Point Capital · p. 38
quote villain critique

""The compliance guy I was working with at the time to launch Passbook, he was saying, you never want an A-plus grade in compliance, you want a B grade when you come back from the auditors. You always want them to find something because, otherwise, you're investing too much into it. You're probably creating more customer pain and you're doing too much." — Former Remitly Software Engineer"

Remitly Global, Inc. · RELY Spruce Point Capital · p. 44
quote ceo quote

""Three big initiatives of asset velocity, structural costs and the long train principles; I would say those are the three great building blocks that capture some pretty substantial course of what we're doing." — June 2011 Detailed Plan; "Revenue growth is integral to achieving lower OR and is dependent on maintaining strong personal relationships with customers." — Current Detailed Plan"

Canadian Pacific Railway · CP Pershing Square · p. 54
quote villain critique

"(lxxiv) None of the Company nor any of the Group Entities and the businesses or entities operated or owned by the Company and the Group Entities... own any interest in any entity, or have entered into any transactions that may compete with the Company and the Group Entities... in Allyes Information Technology Company Limited solely for passive investment purposes — SEC Form 20-F Filing."

quote ceo quote

"“When you think of a large inpatient system [...] that solution has to do a lot of things. You have to build the claims. You need the patient record, well, we have those two things. Now they have a nurse rounding station. They have lab interfaces. They have bed management modules, there's 30 other modules out there. We don't have those.” — Timothy Adams, CFO, athenahealth, March 6, 2014"

athenahealth · ATHN Greenlight Capital · p. 41
quote villain critique

"Хотел бы уточнить о возможности размещения четырех сирот из ДНР в вашем отеле 22-27 марта 2026 г. Только вот вывезли их из освобожденных территорий. Милые девочки возрастом 14-17 лет. Красотки! У всех удочерение на финальном этапе, их уже ожидают семьи. С каждым ребенком будет сопровождающий. Учитывая чувствительность темы, прошу Вас соблюдать конфиденциальность передаваемой информации."

Accor SA · AC Grizzly Research · p. 201
quote villain critique

"Everyone cares about how many qubits you have in your machine, at least the public does, but what’s really important - it doesn’t matter until you have gate fidelities that are really, really good. Because the gate fidelity that you have controls what’s called the “circuit depth,” which is the complexity or the length of the algorithm that you can run. — Former IonQ employee, physicist"

IonQ Inc. · IONQ Scorpion Capital · p. 103
quote villain critique

""In parallel, change is rocking the consumer landscape, as the growing concerns for the environment and interest in health and nutrition have started to drive real, scaled behavioral changes around consumer purchase choices. Generation Z and Millennials will become the dominant global generations in the coming years, bringing to the market a new set of values and expectations." — Oatly"

Oatly Group AB · OTLY Spruce Point Capital · p. 91
quote villain critique

"During 2015, the Company identified a material weakness related to the process to prepare and review its quarterly and annual income tax provision. The material weakness relates to deficiencies in the design and operation of controls in response to the increased complexity in the legal entity structure of the business following the Enterprise acquisition. — Zebra Technologies 2015 10-K"

Zebra Technologies Corp. · ZBRA Spruce Point Capital · p. 97
quote ceo quote

"You need to build a really good company. But instead, you hear a lot of this: Raise a ton of money, spend it on marketing, get a bunch of customers and build really fast. I’m not convinced that that’s the best way to build a long-lasting business. So if you want to build a long-term brand, you have to have incredible financials very early. — CEO Dudum in December 2018 Digiday Interview"

Hims & Hers Health, Inc. · HIMS Spruce Point Capital · p. 94