Ben Axler - Harvest

"Hedge fund manager specializing in forensic financial research"

Title

Portfolio Manager

Education

Yale University

Degree

Master Degree, Statistics

Company Name
Spruce Point Capital Management

Company Description
Award winning investment manager specializing in forensic financial research, short-selling and shareholder activism

Search Posts...

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Leidos' $1.0bn Levered Acquisition Of L3Harris' Security Detection & Automation Looks Defective

Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC (“Spruce Point” or “we” or “us”), a New York-based investment management firm that focuses on forensic research and short-selling, today issued a detailed report entitled "Detecting A Major Cover-Up Threatening ...

Feb 16, 2021

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

What Bulls Chasing Magnite (MGNI) Are Missing: 25%-50% Downside Risk

Executive Summary With shares +400% since Sept 2020, investors are overly bullish on Magnite, formed as a merger between Rubicon Project and Telaria, two companies we believe have troubled pasts+growth strains. The market miscalculates MGNI's ...

Jan 07, 2021

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

The Hidden Past At Enron Of Sunnova's CEO; Insights Into The Company's Aggressive Current Financial Reporting And Accounting

Summary Sunnova euphoric stock rise is misplaced. In reality the company is a specialty financing company serving the solar sector. The CEO omits he started his career at Enron, a fraud known for aggressive financial reporting and accounting. NOVA ...

Sep 29, 2020

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Prestige Consumer Healthcare Will Struggle More In The New COVID-19 World

Quick Highlights Prestige Consumer Healthcare is non-value accretive roll-up of OTC Healthcare consumer products. In the new COVID-19 env't, we believe it is a net-loser due to its weak e-commerce profile. PBH's CFO and entire financial and ...

Jun 30, 2020

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Advent's Acquisition Of Forescout (FSCT) Should Be Renegotiated Lower Post COVID-19 Developments: 35%-50% Downside Risk

Quick Summary On Feb 6th, Advent announced it would acquire Forescout (FSCT) for $33/share in a $1.9bn deal. Forescout had been chronically unprofitable and missing targets. The deal requires $400m debt financing. A review of the proxy suggests ...

Apr 30, 2020

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why The Amcor + Bemis Merger Is Significantly Underperforming Expectations And The Dividend Is At Risk: 40%-60% Downside Risk

Summary Amcor and Bemis, two packaging companies, completed a merger in June 2019. Complicated financial reporting between AAS and GAAP, divestitures, and two different fiscal years, obscures underlying results. Analysts believe Amcor grows 1-2%, but ...

Mar 10, 2020

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Dropbox Can Drop An Additional 25%-60%

Report Entitled: "A Box of Empty Promises” Executive Summary We are pleased to issue a report on our website outlining our concerns how Dropbox, Inc. (“DBX”) faces 25% - 60% downside risk to approximately $6.60-$13.00 per share. Follow us on Twitter ...

Feb 06, 2020

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why There Is 35% - 65% Downside Risk In LHC Group (LHCG)

Summary LHCG's merger of equals with Almost Family (AFAM) was pitched as a synergistic transaction with accelerating organic revenue growth potential. Upon close forensic investigation, we find evidence of organic sale growth contraction, which is ...

Jan 15, 2020

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Canadian Tire Corp. (TSE: CTC.A) Has Symptoms Of A Potentially Terminal Illness As A Brick-And-Mortar Retailer

Summary Canadian Tire (CTC) is a brick-and-mortar retailer in Canada that has been slow to move sales online, or develop a flourishing mobile app. The market underappreciates Amazon's growing market share. With revenue growth slowing and debt rising, ...

Dec 05, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Cintas Is Facing Financial Stress And Its Fastest Growing Business Has Charged With Fraud And A Public Safety Risk

Report entitled “Uniformly Bad Business Practices” outlines how Cintas faces 60-75% downside risk to approximately $69.00 to $107.00 per share when accounting for its weakening fundamentals, aggressive accounting, regulatory and litigation risk ...

Nov 13, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Hill-Rom (HRC) Needs To Re-Set Financial Expectations Lower: 25%-55% Downside Risk

Executive Summary HRC is a maker of hospital equipment, notably beds, that is coming up against difficult growth and margin expectations. A wave of sales from new product introductions is showing signs of plateauing. Failed M&A, frequent ...

Oct 29, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why We Can't Reconcile 40% Of Monolithic Power's (MPWR) Revenue After An Investigation Of Its China Presence

Summary MPWR is a U.S. listed and HQ'ed semiconductor company, but we estimate 90% of its production and 58% of its sales are in China. China tax filings show a $262m revenue discrepancy and margins almost 20% lower than reported in SEC filings. ...

Oct 09, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why We See 55%-75% Downside Risk For Premier, Inc (PINC)

Report Entitled: "A Premier Short” Spruce Point is pleased to issue a unique investment research opinion on Primer, Inc. ( PINC or "the Company"), a healthcare services organization. The report outlines how Premier, Inc faces 55% - 75% downside risk ...

Sep 25, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Unique Data From IQVIA Suggests Faster Market Share Losses At Penumbra Than The Market Believes: 40%-55% Downside Risk

Quick Highlights Penumbra is largely a single product company where new competition is rapidly taking market share. However, the Street structurally misunderstands the magnitude of the loss. Accessing unique data from IQVIA, that is marketed to ...

Jul 31, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

A Fresh Look At Whistleblower Allegations From 2004 At Mettler-Toledo: 30-50% Downside Risk

Report Entitled "Imprecise Earnings" Spruce Point is pleased to issue a unique investment research report on International, Inc. ("Mettler" " MTD " ," or "the Company"), a manufacturer of analytical instruments and weighing solutions for the lab, ...

Jul 24, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why The Market Is Missing A Renewed Competitive Threat To Taser's Core CEW

Summary Spruce Point has learned of an imminent renewed competitive threat to Axon. The Street is not yet aware. PhaZZer Global is set to launch a new CEW in October 2019. Axon's injunction for patent 262 expires Oct 2019. We expect PhaZZer's new ...

Jun 21, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Axon Enterprises (Formerly Taser) Will Fail To Achieve Its TAM And Growth Targets And Has 40%-60% Downside

Report Entitled: "A Stunning Short" Spruce Point is pleased to issue a unique investment research report on Axon Enterprises, Inc. ("Axon," " AAXN " or "the Company"), formerly known as Taser International, a provider of conducted electrical weapons ...

Jun 19, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Verint Systems (VRNT) Has 60%-70% Downside Risk

Key Highlights Verint is a long-time underperforming software company that is up 45% YTD as shareholder Neuberger Berman wages a proxy fight, and it gives lip service to implementing a cloud solution. Based on our customer and industry checks, we ...

May 23, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Kornit Digital Looks Poised To Lose Amazon's Asia Business, And Why Shares Have Up To 85% Downside Risk

High Level Summary Kornit Digital's shares are +55% YTD, but investors haven't realized sales to its two biggest customers (32% of sales), Cimpress (CMPR), owner of Vistaprint, and Amazon, are under pressure. We believe production quality issues have ...

May 07, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why PetIQ (Nasdaq: PETQ) Has Up To 90% Downside Risk

Spruce Point Capital Releases A Strong Sell Research Opinion On PetIQ, Inc. (Nasdaq: PETQ ) Report entitled “A Flea and Tick Infested Investment” outlines how PETQ faces 75-90% downside risk to approximately $2 to $8 per share due to fundamental ...

Apr 30, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Aerojet Rocketdyne's Revenues Are Set To Decline And It Is 5x More Levered Than It Appears: 40% - 60% Downside Risk

Report Entitled: "Ready, Aim, Blow-Up" Spruce Point Capital Management is pleased to issue a "Strong Sell" opinion on Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AJRD). The full contents of the report are available on our website . We also encourage ...

Apr 09, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Dexcom (DXCM) Faces 45-60% Downside Risk

Quick Higlights Investors misunderstand DXCM's recent revenue growth as a function of significant user adoption. Our research suggests one-off pre-buying a extendable sensors ahead of a big price increase. DXCM is reaching market penetration limits ...

Mar 21, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Spruce Point Believes Carvana Has 50%-70% Intermediate Downside Risk, And Is Potentially Worthless

Executive Summary Carvana (CVNA) was incubated under DriveTime whose CEO is a convicted felon. DriveTime could not go public, so we believe the Garcia family is indirectly monetizing its holdings thorough CVNA. CVNA has all the markings of stock ...

Feb 12, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why Amdocs (DOX) Is Now In Financial Decline, Using Aggressive Methods To Obscure Its Problems, And Has 25%-50% Downside Risk

In 2019, Spruce Point is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. By adding fresh and unique forensic research perspectives that challenged the traditional "Buy" conclusion for every public equity, we have worked hard to democratize investment research, ...

Jan 23, 2019

Ben Axler, Spruce Point Capital Management

Why XPO Logistics Appears To Be Using A Nearly Identical Playbook To United Rentals, Which Was Charged With Accounting Fraud

Executive Summary Report Entitled "Trucking Ridiculous; End Of The Road" Spruce Point believes that XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: XPO or “the Company”) is a classic stock promotion orchestrated by a web of individuals with checkered pasts, including ...

Dec 13, 2018