Recently in one of our research notes about Zillow we wrote the following:“Investors love anecdotes about companies; they represent the “broth” in the mosaic theory “soup” we create on any...
READ MORE >Investors love anecdotes about companies; they represent the “broth” in the mosaic theory “soup” we create on any given investment idea. Industry statistics and company specific filings...
READ MORE >Each year, for the past six we have conducted a survey of real estate agents across the country. We find that the feedback from agents at the local level gives us a much more informed view of the state...
READ MORE >Following a conference call that sounded 50% like a deposition and 50% like an advertisement (it was 100% strange), we can’t help but wonder if this could be the last time we might here from ESI...
READ MORE >“My pain…. Is self chosen At least so the prophet saysI could either burnOr cut off my pride and buy some timeA head full of lies is the weightTied to my waistThe river of deceit pulls downThe...
READ MORE >“…the hedge funds tend not to do the due diligence. They don’t take the deeper dive and understand.”SAID NO ONE EVER. Wait a minute, someone actually did say this and very recently. This...
READ MORE >“The vulnerability associated with household indebtedness remains important and is edging higher, owing to an increase in the level of household debt and the ongoing negative impact on incomes from...
READ MORE >Was it only two years ago that HCG management triumphantly trumpeted its conquest of short sellers? Make no mistake the fact pattern surrounding the company over the past six months has been...
READ MORE >From our perspective, within the walls of Zillow Chad Cohen has been the fourth most important person in the company’s empire building efforts over the past decade behind Spencer Rascoff, Greg Schwartz, and Richard Barton. This is why we think...
READ MORE >Now that was a press release straight out of the late 1990’s tech company playbook. Even for a management team that’s renown for its constant self-promotion and “smoke and mirrors” games with growth metrics,...
READ MORE >It’s as if the SEC never filed suit against ESI, the CEO, and the CFO….The 100%+ rally in shares of ESI over the past three trading days has been truly something to behold. The stock has been acting like the typical villain in a horror...
READ MORE >“Beware the the “tions” of 2015, Especially Those Related to Project Upstream….”- PAA Research, 1/29/15“There’s something brewing here that really makes me think that...
READ MORE >Heading into the company’s 1Q15 earnings call we thought we might get the following from Zillow: Messy 1Q15 results - check New metrics that would be impossible to reconcile with historical...
READ MORE >“You shouldn’t talk to that guy, he’s a liar”You might be thinking that’s a quote from someone talking about Kevin Modany, but in fact this is a quote FROM Kevin Modany which was said to a reporter when he was...
READ MORE >Among Canadian financial services companies Home Capital Group has had a remarkable run of generating strong loan growth, 20%+ ROE, and most importantly for investors, significant shareholder returns. The stock is up 40 fold over the past 15 years! ...
READ MORE >“Yeah. I'm not buying that stock [Apartment finder] at that price [14x EBITDA]. I will buy that stock at half that price.”- Andy Florance, CEO CoStar Group, Inc. 4/30/15Just an...
READ MORE >In general as a public company, WWE has done a poor job of managing investor expectations. Management has yet to fully figure out how to play the game of underpromising and overdelivering. This dynamic was particularly problematic in 2014 when...
READ MORE >For the past year, we have been arguing that Zillow has a major advertising inventory problem. The growth of the company’s premier agent featured listing program combined with deals Zillow has...
READ MORE >We’re thinking of a for-profit education company that operates a large national university with a strong presence in nursing, a big online platform, and a heavy mix of bachelor’s degree students that also owns a group of international universities. Can you guess...
READ MORE >Well that was interesting. This is not our first rodeo in a heavily shorted battleground stock, but for some reason each experience often reveals something new about potential trading action. Today’s action certainly underscores a...
READ MORE >Today wrestling fans across the country are rejoicing over what many have deemed “the best Wrestlemania ever”. Following months of complaining from WWE’s legion of vociferous fans on social media and various...
READ MORE >2015 is shaping up to be an incredibly challenging year for Zillow. The ground is shifting rapidly in the residential real estate space as legacy brokerage firms and media companies (think News...
READ MORE >This report is a follow up to our note published 3/10/15 in which we introduced Home Capital Group (HCG.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), and Rona Inc. (RON.TO) as short ideas.“Get busy with...
READ MORE >“Get busy with the facts, No zodiacs or almanacs, No maniacs in polyester slacks, Just the facts…. The small gets big, It’s a rig…. You better run homeboy, A fact’s a fact… Roll the...
READ MORE >This morning Trulia filed its 2014 10-K. As you might remember, on the conference call discussing Zillow’s 4Q14 earnings and the closing of the acquisition management was unwilling to provide much detail on Trulia’s 4Q14 financial...
READ MORE >As long time followers of PAA Research know, we have a fair amount of experience dealing with heavily shorted stocks. This is not our first rodeo with a stock that experiences a vicious rally that seems to have been...
READ MORE >We are closing out our TRLA short idea with a (-62.3%) loss following the company's acquisition by Zillow. Many, if not most elements of our short thesis on TRLA did indeed play out: in almost every way the...
READ MORE >COCO shares were delisted from the NASDAQ today. We are closing out our COCO short idea with a 99.9% ABSOLUTE gain and 176.1% alpha generation. It is our goal to identify short ideas that have 100% absolute return potential. Obviously,...
READ MORE >“So hold on tight, with all your might… Cause MC's [market caps] crumble when we rumble… Cause in this battle, I’m takin no prisoners, I’m slayin MC's right on the...
READ MORE >Approximately 6-months ago we introduced ZU as a short idea. At that time our thesis was as follows: Zulily’s TAM is HUGELY overstated. Bulls make the case that the markets in which Zulily participates generated...
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