In the 18-months that we have been recommending going Long shares of WWE, we have been highly critical of management’s reluctance to provide investors with the company’s general operating and financial...
READ MORE >We have little doubt that among the kernels of information included in ESI’s 2012 10-K filing that the disclosure of the subpoena from the SEC will receive the greatest attention – as it should. However, for anyone who has followed the...
READ MORE >Didn’t we go through the same experience last quarter? Zillow beat revenue and EPS for 4Q12, operating metrics were stellar, and management guided lower in large part due to increased expectations for...
READ MORE >Well at least they didn’t miss consensus revenue estimates again…. Seriously though, do you remember the “good old days” when supposed growth companies that reported a massive deceleration in operating metrics, low quality...
READ MORE >WWE shares have advanced 7.8% thus far this year compared to a 6.0% gain for the S&P 500. Despite the solid stock price performance to start the year, we doubt that many WWE investors are taking “victory laps”. After all, in the...
READ MORE >Despite all of the levers the company has pulled (cohort default rate “management”, asset sales, off-loading student loan credit risk temporarily, sale lease backs) over the past two years, it finally appears that COCO is starting to run out of...
READ MORE >MCRS reported a quarter that was as uneventful as it was uninspiring. Ultimately there were operating metrics that improved somewhat and those that could be construed as confirmation of our short thesis. Below we discuss the key positives and negatives from the quarter.
READ MORE >Who said volatility is dead? In a day that will go down in infamy for ESI investors, the stock traded in an astounding 40%+ range today. After gaping down in excess of 20% in early trading ESI shares rebounded over the course of the day to close up 17.7% - efficient...
READ MORE >Over the past month, PAA Research conducted a survey of approximately 80-85 restaurant operators a significant percentage of which are clients of OPEN and MCRS. The general purpose of the survey was to gain...
READ MORE >Yesterday we had the opportunity to tour the floor at the National Retail Federation’s “Big Show 2013”. We wanted to pass along some key observations from our time in the exhibit hall. As you might imagine given our outstanding short call on...
READ MORE >If you were to distill our short thesis on ESI into its central elements (which we’ve now had in place for almost four years now) it can be succinctly summarized in two points: 1. The company’s...
READ MORE >First and foremost we wanted to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year and thank you for your continued interest in our research. While there was plenty to be pleased about from a performance...
READ MORE >Coming into MCRS’s first “Investor Day” in over 13 years, we thought the burden of proof very much was on management to articulate why the proliferation of mobile POS solutions, mobile ordering, and cloud based iOS systems would not negatively impact the company’s...
READ MORE >It’s been nearly four months since we first introduced MCRS as a short idea. Since that time the stock has declined (-13%) compared to a 1% gain for the S&P 500 over the same period. As so often is...
READ MORE >It seems like only 5-6 months ago we were lamenting a similar dynamic surrounding WWE shares. Here we are again, with WWE shares plumbing decade lows even though there are ample signs that the company’s core product continues...
READ MORE >Heading into XOXO’s 3Q12 earnings release we thought we knew the following: The Knot and the Bump franchises remained incredibly strong from a consumer engagement perspective Investors had...
READ MORE >At no point over the past 3-years have we felt that we were in denial about the issues that THQI faced in trying to turn the company’s earnings prospects around. We were intimately aware of the company’s disproportionate exposures to the very segments of the video game...
READ MORE >If you told us heading into the earnings print that Zillow would have added more than 4,000 premier agent subscribers in the third quarter, we almost certainly would have expected Zillow shares to trade higher. Obviously that has not...
READ MORE >Heading into the company’s 3Q12 earnings release, OPEN shares had rallied 31.8% over the past 3-months compared to a meager 3.4% gain for the Nasdaq. Clearly investor enthusiasm for OPEN shares continued to increase over the past...
READ MORE >We had to laugh. Approximately two weeks ago, rumors started to surface that YHOO under the stewardship of Marissa Mayer, might consider an acquisition of OPEN. Outside of combining one high margin, mature business facing...
READ MORE >In some respects, given all that has happened over the past 2-3 years in the for-profit postsecondary education space it’s hard to imagine that COCO is still hanging around. After all, in an era when brand, price, and return...
READ MORE >It’s hard to put our finger on it as to what element of MCRS’s 1Q13 earnings results added further validation to our short thesis, but there are more than a few signs there. In our view, there were four or five items in the company’s 1Q13 results that should be viewed as...
READ MORE >Losing Altitude and Gaining Speed…..At the simplest level, here are the five things that you need to know about ESI following the company’s 3Q12 earnings release and fall term enrollment...
READ MORE >With one simple statement, the management of Urban Outfitters changed the entire perception surrounding the sustainability of incumbent providers of PC based POS software solutions to restaurants and retailers. On September 27th at the Urban Outfitters investor day, the...
READ MORE >In the housing depression over the past five years, there has been one segment of the marketplace that has performed quite well – rentals. Historically, the rental property market has been largely comprised of...
READ MORE >The Spring/Summer 2012 selling season will not be remembered fondly by participants in the outdoor power equipment marketplace. Severe drought through much of the US and ongoing economic in weakness led...
READ MORE >On Tuesday, October 16th APOL will kick-start the earnings season in the for-profit postsecondary education sector. Investor expectations for the company’s results, particularly surrounding new...
READ MORE >More Correspondence with the SEC….We just wanted to flag a round of correspondence between ESI and the SEC that occurred in July and August of this year. The letters were just released through the SEC’s...
READ MORE >“The investment thesis for us is pretty straightforward, as I said earlier, career-oriented, that's a big deal to us. I mean, we're teaching students how to become prepared for their first job. Not only do we teach them and get them through the process, we also spend a...
READ MORE >“I just charge additional license fees for these iPad implementations, so it actually drives business”Peter Rodgers, EVP Investor Relations and Business Development MICROS Systems, Inc.That’s it, nothing to see here....
READ MORE >SELL
$50
LONG
$110
SELL/SHORT
$230
SELL/SHORT
$55
LONG
$70
SELL/SHORT
$4
SELL/SHORT
$45
SHORT
$18
SELL/SHORT
$5
SELL/SHORT
$42
LONG
$75
SELL/SHORT
$50
SELL/SHORT
$50
LONG
$5.50
SHORT
$50
SHORT
$28
LONG
$65
LONG
$37
PAIR TRADE
$10
PAIR TRADE
$30
LONG
$35
SHORT
$35
SELL/SHORT
$10
SHORT
$101
SHORT
$15
SHORT
$0
SHORT
$9
SHORT
$0
PAIR - LONG BGG/SHORT TTC
25%
SHORT
$14.00
SHORT
$22
SHORT
$15
SHORT
$20
SHORT
$31
SHORT
$35
SHORT
$30
PAIR - LONG KNL/SHORT MLHR
25%
SHORT
$100
LONG
$8
LONG
$20
SHORT
$22
PAIR - LONG CSGP/SHORT LOOP
40%
LONG
$35
SHORT
$275
SHORT
$0