The Bear Cave #345
Welcome to The Bear Cave! The last premium articles for paid readers were: “ 5 Education Stocks in AI’s Blast Radius ” and “ Problems at Jackson Financial ($JXN) .” Our next special investigation is scheduled for Thursday, October 1. Subscribe now New Activist Reports Blue Orca published on EquipmentShare.com (NASDAQ: EQPT — $4.4 billion), a construction-equipment rental company that went public in January on an “asset-light” story. Blue Orca’s target is the OWN Program, in which outside investors buy machines and lease them into EquipmentShare’s fleet. The report alleges that the $5.5 billion OWN fleet carries an undisclosed 10% first-loss guarantee, representing roughly $500 million of exposure against $55 million of tangible book value, plus a separate obligation to repurchase equipment after six years. It also notes the co-founders have pledged about 27 million shares, nearly 40% of their holdings, against margin loans, and that Romulus Capital, the largest pre-IPO investor, which sued the company last year over alleged insider dealings, began selling once its lock-up expired. EquipmentShare said the report mischaracterizes its business. Umibozu Research raised similar questions about the program in June . Iceberg Research published on Deep Fission (NASDAQ: FISN — $368 million), a Berkeley startup that plans to sink small reactors a mile underground, which listed on Nasdaq in June in what Iceberg calls a busted IPO. Working from the company’s own assumptions, Iceberg pegs the first reactor’s cost of energy at $289 per megawatt-hour against the $50-70 pitched to investors, questions the credibility of the “industry’s largest pipeline” claim, and estimates the company needs about $350 million it does not have. Mispriced Assets wrote about Deep Fission in June. Also this week, Viceroy Research asked the Ontario Securities Commission to look into how Blue Moon Metals (NASDAQ: BMM — $540 million) characterized its Nussir project financing during an equity raise. And Scorpion Capital flagged a $56.3 million stock sale by the CEO of Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ: TWST — $11.5 billion) under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The filing shows 356,546 shares sold. Recent Resignations and Departures Notable executive departures disclosed in the past week include: President of Corcept Endocrinology at Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CORT — $12.6 billion) resigned effective October 1 and will consult for $57,000 a month under an agreement running through September 2027. He is one of eight Corcept insiders who have been heavy sellers since August. President and Chief Commercial Officer of Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX — $18.4 billion) will step down October 2, about nine months after his promotion to President. Chief Revenue Officer of Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS — $31.5 billion) is stepping down October 1 “for personal reasons,” according to the press release. The company provided investors with less than a week of notice. Chief Commercial Officer of United Parks & Resorts (NYSE: PRKS — $1.5 billion) resigned with just days of notice — the latest in a string of C-suite departures. The CFO left last November after a year in the job, and the Chief Accounting Officer was replaced last August after about eleven months. Both the outgoing CCO and the interim CFO have been selling shares since August. President and Chief Executive Officer of Turning Point Brands (NYSE: TPB — $1.2 billion) resigned “for personal reasons,” effective September 30, when he will also leave the board; the Executive Chairman will succeed him as CEO. Chief Legal Officer of PACS Group (NYSE: PACS — $6.5 billion) retired the same day he signed a transition agreement worth a year of salary continuation. The exit comes as the CEO has sold $23 million of stock in a month under a new trading plan; the last time he sold, in 2024, the stock went on to lose more than 75% over the next twelve months, amid a short report from Hindenburg Research, delayed financial filings, and restatements. Chief Financial Officer of Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL — $22.6 billion) will step down by year-end. The same filing, released on Friday after market close, reveals that co-founder P. Sean Neville resigned from the board effective immediately for personal reasons. Circle described the departure as part of its board-refreshment process. Chief Financial Officer of TransUnion (NYSE: TRU — $13.3 billion) is stepping down at year-end after 29 years with the company, nine of them as CFO. Since June, the company has also seen three unannounced exits — the heads of U.S. compliance, delivery and direct sales — while the Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Global Solutions Officer have each trimmed their stakes by more than 30% since July. Data in this section comes from Canary . News of the Week Michael Burry tallied nearly $1.2 trillion in uncommenced leases and more than $1.5 trillion in purchase commitments across Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft and Oracle tied to the AI boom; adding special-purpose vehicles, guarantees and other backstops takes his estimate above $3 trillion, largely outside their balance sheets. That warning re: capex came as Oracle invoked force majeure over potential power delays at a New Mexico data-center project being developed by a Blue Owl unit, postponing the start of higher rent payments; Blue Owl says Oracle’s financial commitments remain unchanged. Meta’s Muse also rattled stocks across finance, travel, telecoms and subscription businesses — including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Allstate, Progressive, Marsh, Arthur J. Gallagher, Planet Fitness, The New York Times, Verizon, Expedia, Booking, Tripadvisor, Airbnb, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash. Meanwhile, EverQuote, LendingTree, Instacart, CarGurus, Cars.com and Etsy also sold off on Muse headlines amid fears that agents could cancel subscriptions, shop for better rates and bypass middlemen. In Singapore, a High Court judge appointed KPMG as interim managers of iron ore trader Radiant World to investigate suspected fraud involving invoices supplied to lenders. Radiant World denies the allegations, and the court’s assessment is preliminary. Tweets of the Week Plus: A couple bonus tweets from last week that we didn’t have room for. Until next week, The Bear Cave New? Sign Up Here Got Feedback? Just Hit Reply The Bear Cave is Not Investment Advice. 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