Finance & Business Writing Science & Technology A Plus: Articles/Buyer's Guides Screenwriting & Music Personal Essays Milvet-Focused Press Recommendations

K.S. Anthony

I am a New York City-based writer and data-informed marketing strategist with a proven track record of successful growth and optimization strategies.

As a writer, I have earned hundreds of millions of page views and over a billion Facebook impressions. In addition, I have written branded content, feature-length screenplays, Billboard-charting song lyrics, and edited thousands of news articles, graduate and undergraduate research papers, college application essays, and more.


In marketing, I differentiate myself through unconventional thinking, excellence in social media strategy, the performance of those I recruit, and the speed and efficacy with which my teams and I deliver results. 
 
I graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a B.A. in English and am proud to be an honorary G-Chief (civilian advisor) in the NYC Chapter of the Special Forces Association. This portfolio represents a fraction of the work I've done over the last 10 years. Use the dropdown menu in the upper right corner to see a collection of my personal essays, examples of the buyers guides I wrote for A Plus, press coverage of my writing, recommendations,and more.

Finance, Business, & Leadership Writing

Some of my work for SumZero, GetGlobal, and more.

SumZero •

Irrational Exuberance: An Interview With WallStreetBets Founder Jaime Rogozinski

While SumZero has served the professional BuySide community since 2008, we would be remiss if we did not comment on trends that affect the financial ecosystem. As many have noted in recent weeks, there is an undeniable impact being made by retail investors that affect the market as a whole. Among them is Reddit’s WallStreetBets. Our aim was to avoid sensationalist coverage and examine this phenomenon as objectively as possible to better serve our members.



– Editor




Irrational Exuberan
SumZero •

Curtains or Comeback? Movie Theaters and Studios Adapt or Die During Pandemic

The news that Disney (DIS: US) plans to release the live-action version of Mulan with an additional $29.99 on-demand price tag to Disney+ subscribers shone a spotlight on one of the biggest questions impacting the film industry as the COVID-19 crisis continues to hamstring the economy: how will new cinematic releases be affected if movie theaters remain closed or if audiences stop going to movies?

While filming and production have been delayed or halted altogether on some features, Hollyw
SumZero •

Anti-Viral: Two Biotech Stocks Rising With COVID-19

With the COVID-19 coronavirus dominating the headlines and sparking a downturn across broad swaths of the market, many investors are looking to those who are leading the way in the search for either a vaccine, a cure, or both. While many in pharma and biotech are contributing research to this global health crisis, two companies are at the forefront of this battle: Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD:US) and Moderna Inc. (MRNA:US). Not only have both GILD and MRNA seen significant increases in an otherwis
SumZero •

Peloton and Nautilus: The Long and Short of Fiscal Fitness

The biggest change in exercise machines is the adoption of endogenous technology intended to quantify performance or physiological metrics. Speedometers, pedometers, heart rate monitors, and calorie calculators – once separate tools – can now be found on the least advanced stationary bicycles or treadmills at nearly any gym across the world as well as in wearable devices and phones. At a certain point, the number of useful metrics drops off for the average exerciser.
SumZero •

Fight or Flight? Two Deep Value Investments While Air Travel is Grounded

As the COVID19 virus continues to disrupt the market, contributing to the historical plunge that briefly halted trading on Monday, March 9th and again on Thursday, March 12th, some portfolio and fund managers are looking to the skies for deep value investments. No, they’re not experiencing religious epiphanies: they’re proselytizing the virtues of buying into various aspects of air travel...
SumZero •

The Frontlines of the Streaming Wars

With Disney and Apple entering the arena, we reviewed some of the ideas posited by SumZero contributors to examine how these two giants are shaping the competition for subscription-based video and how companies like Apple and Netflix – the 6th and 7th most-searched for companies on SumZero – are being affected.




Disney Plus: Not Just For Kids



Disney's (DIS) acquisition of Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm (and thus, the Star Wars franchises) in 2009 and 2012 respectively, expanded its

Leadership Articles - LinkedIn

Some of my articles originally published on LinkedIn

Why Do Websites Have To Suck? Reimagining Media In The Age Of Alt-Reality

There are two major promises of the Internet.
1) It promises deep connectivity: layers of accessible information, connected/connectible data points, and the ability to layer and connect the same. Social connection via the same mechanism is a part of that.
2) Embedded in the first promise is the promise of reimagining space: specifically the creation of virtual and visual space as it relates to the ability to store and display information and to human/user interaction.

Led By Blind Faith: Following Faulty Mental Maps

I first read Laurence Gonzales' Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why shortly after it was published in 2003 with an interest in understanding the mindsets of those who've survived disastrous events – and those who haven't. It's long been a book that I've recommended to friends: it's an incredibly rich source of psychological survival tools. When I re-read it in 2017 through the lens I've gained by working in media and strategy, I discovered that its lessons are as applicable to business as they are to life-altering events.
LinkedIn •

Resistant Mindsets, Resilient Resets

In Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Richards J. Heuer writes, “A mind-set is neither good nor bad. It is unavoidable. It is, in essence, a distillation of all that analysts think they know about a subject. It forms a lens through which they perceive the world, and once formed, it resists change.” There are myriad examples of resistant mindsets – of inaccurate mental maps that do not reflect the operational terrain – in business, particularly as you proceed up the corporate hierarchy.

Platitudes Are Contagious: ‘Company Culture,’ Management Maxims, And Other Bullsh*t

Facebook’s “move fast and break things” motto was the battle-cry and unconventional thinking, acting, and doing was the hallmark of the “disrupters:” high-speed, low-drag rule-breakers who meant to kick down the cobwebbed doors of stagnant industries and rebuild them in their own images of efficacy and efficiency.

Cover photo: Joakim Jardenberg/Flickr (lic. here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jocke66/4561715144)

SumZero Video

Some of the video I edited and produced for SumZero

SumZero •

Is China Uninvestable? A Conversation With Navis Capital Partners' Hugh Dyus

07/20/2022 Zoom call featuring SumZero CEO Divya Narendra in conversation with Navis Capital Partners’ Hugh Dyus about investing in China (https://www.naviscapital.com/public-equity).

For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.

00:00 Start
00:10 Introduction Divya Narendra
01:07 Introduction and background Hugh Dyus
02:04 Corporate governance and the Navis Jockey Fund’s strategy in the Chinese market
03:16 Cap size of companies in Navis’ portfolio
03:50 Hurdle in return rate
04:37 Macro conditions - social, economic, and cultural - for western investors in China
05:33 A “difference between rhetoric and substance” when it comes to the CCP
06:06 The economic system in China as “raw capitalism;” navigating industry regulation
09:23 China’s COVID-19 policy
12:18 China’s support of Russia in Russia-Ukraine conflict
15:04 Risks related to Taiwan
16:07 Risks of Chinese companies being delisted on U.S. exchanges
18:20 Average earnings multiple in Chinese market
19:47 AliBaba (BABA: US) earnings multiple and more
30:16 AMZN’s AWS vs. BABA’s cloud business
32:14 Value ascribed to BABA’s Ant Group
34:07 Bairon (6608: HK)
37:00 Unlocking shareholder value in companies with PE backing
39:28 Sell-side coverage in China
40:10 Acquaintanceship with CEOs in China
42:40 Equity incentives in Chinese companies
45:18 Other countries with disconnect between intrinsic value and market price
46:36 %age of China stock in Navis Jockey Fund portfolio
47:40 Thoughts on U.S. rates market and China
50:00 Quantifying amount of capital pulled out of China by western investors
51:20 India
54:03 Final thoughts
SumZero •

Vinovest CEO Anthony Zhang On Why Investors Are Turning to Wine and Whiskey as an Inflation Hedge

Zoom call featuring Divya Narendra with VinoVest CEO and founder Anthony Zhang discussing why more investors are taking refuge in wine and whiskey as asset classes as the market shudders and inflation rises. Check out VinoVest at https://www.vinovest.co.

For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.

00:00 Start
00:10 Introduction by Divya Narendra
02:09 Anthony Zhang on wine as an investment commodity, costs of production, and consumer buying trends
04:24 Effects of supply chain, time, and other variables on wine's natural "buy low, sell high" value characteristics
05:27 Impact of time /aging on wine value appreciation
07:49 Supply chain issues and shortages: glass bottles up 30%
08:46 Liquidity of and accessibility to wine market as supported by VinoVest
11:06 Who's buying, selling, and trading on VinoVest
12:10 Disadvantages of selling early
12:50 Effect of stock market volatility on wine investing: existing clients doubling down on holdings
13:35 How wine investing resembles bond investing
14:10 Recommended time horizon for wine aging
15:15 Experiments in using wine as margin
16:16 WhiskeyVest (https://www.whiskeyvest.co) initiative opening
16:40 Entire casks of whiskey now available to investors
17:25 Cask aging
18:22 Whiskey supply and demand as it relates to region: Japan, Scotland, Kentucky
19:42 Privileges enjoyed by whiskey cask owners: bottling and more
20:20 VinoVest/WhiskeyVest UI and login overlap
21:07 Size of whiskey market in relation to wine market and annual growth rate
24:30 Opportunities in wine investing - hidden gems, "small cap" wines, VinoVest's potential as a market maker
27:18 Final comments, effects of Euro/dollar parity on wine market for Americans
SumZero •

Cheers: Why Wine is Becoming a Safe Haven for Investors Amidst Market Turmoil

Vinovest CEO Anthony Zhang is a fantastic speaker and this is one of my favorite edits. All done on iMovie from a Zoom recording.

00:00 Start
00:10 Divya Narendra introduction
00:59 Anthony Zhang introduction
01:22 People seeking investment shelters amidst volatility
01:43 Stability in wine investing
02:00 Average wine portfolio up 5.6% YTD
02:11 Wine consumption up
02:21 Rough winter for many vineyards, concerns about shortages
02:51 Impact of supply chain fragility and other dynamic variables on wine industry
03:39 Supply chain/shipping cost issues since COVID-19
03:49 Inflation effecting cost of materials in wine industry
04:28 Biggest cost inputs in making wine
05:47 Barrels, rising lumber costs
06:30 Input costs and pricing increases
07:10 Added costs, fixed costs, supply and base costs
07:50 Effect of oil/fuel/energy costs on wine
08:55 Breakdown of wines/regions driving 5.6% return YTD
09:47 California, Rhone valley, Burgundy
10:01 other regions showing relatively flat returns
10:14 Is there a “index-exposure” offering for wine investors?
10:50 Vinovest portfolios for institutional investors.
11:18 Interesting opportunities in wine investing
11:37 Many highly-anticipated regions failing to outperform market
12:00 “Blue-chip” regions continue to outperform
12:12 Argentina, Chile hit harder by supply chain issues than more-established regions
12:30
12:53 “Flight to quality” in wine during volatile economic conditions
13:16 Industry trends
13:24 NFTs in wine industry
13:45 Wine market demographics shifting as consumers age
14:45 NFTs as way of establishing provenance
16:35 Wine counterfeiting
18:14 Vinovest’s institutional investment offerings
21:50 Effects of Russia-Ukraine conflict on wine industry
22:23 Russian oligarch wine collectors
22:52 Theoretically difficult for oligarchs to liquidate wine collections
23:27 Eastern Europe wine market
24:40 Final comments
SumZero •

Spruce Point Capital Shorts C3.ai, Inc (AI: NYSE), Calling it a 'Money Losing Company'

On Wednesday February 16th 2022, SumZero CEO Divya Narendra sat down for a live conversation with Spruce Point Capital CIO, Ben Axler, to discuss the thesis behind their research report short C3.ai, Inc. (AI: US), which they say presents serious downside risks to investors.

The report, which calls AI a "money losing company," cites a "revolving door" in its CFO position and a "dark history of business model pivots," while adding that "challenges in product adoption and significant salesforce turnover make it unlikely that C3.ai will meet aggressive analyst estimates." The report also points out that Spruce Point could not "find a single AI thematic ETF that holds C3.ai as a top 10 position in its fund," and that "retail investors appear to be the biggest shareholders being baited by these optimistic (price targets held by other analysts)."

For more information on Spruce Point Capital's thesis on c3.ai (AI: NYSE) go to https://www.sprucepointcap.com/c3-ai-inc/ and follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sprucepointcap.

For more fundamental-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.

00:00 Start
00:10 Divya Narendra introduction
00:40 Ben Axler introduction to thesis short C3.ai (AI: NYSE)
01:13 AI founded in 2009 by Tom Siebel
01:25 History of AI’s various business models
02:00 Reliance on Baker-Hughes for revenue
02:10 Overview of position
02:50 AI’s actual business
03:19 “People still don’t seem to know” what AI provides
03:43 AI’s customer base includes 3M, Baker Hughs, Caterpillar, utilities companies
04:13 Complexity of product “one of its limiting factors”
04:55 Issues w/ existing customer relationships
05:29 AI’s definition of “customer” and potential overstatement (slides 25 - 27)
06:00 Challenges selling product leading to contract modifications
06:20 Baker-Hughes deal summary (slide 35)
07:09 “A marriage that’s just not working”
07:45 Wall Street revenue estimates too high, Spruce Point sees 40-50% downside target
07:55 Channel checks in research
08:21 CFO turnover (slide 63)
08:36 One departing CFO forfeit $20M in stock options
08:57 Concerns raised about current CFO
09:18 “Management in Flux;” executives departing (slide 68)
09:54 Bull argument for stock
10:06 “Can’t think of any (bull argument), other than it’s down a lot.”
10:40 Claims of exaggerated TAM (slide 20)
10:52 30% of revenue coming from one customer
11:09 Conflicting statements about product development costs
11:30 Conflicting statements about sales cycle
12:10 Stock down more than 70% in a year
12:20 Cash burn
12:39 Competitors
13:50 Details on TAM statements
14:11 $260M revenue company in $270B market?
15:00 Spruce Point targeting questionable companies going public
16:28 Customer base, government contracts (slide 27)
17:12 Valuations
17:40 Debt, operating lease with Google (slide 60)
18:00 Company shrinking due to employee turnover
18:28 Discounted multiple on-Baker-Hughes business
18:43 Spruce Point sees 40 - 50% downside
19:14 Questions about partnerships, 10-year, $103M lease with Google (slide 60)
20:45 Cash flow/burn
20:55 Governance - dual class stock
21:32 Two board directors w/ ties to Makena Capital (slide 74); other possible conflicts of interest
22:18 Dual class status limits institutional owners, retail investors could be targeted
23:55 Average analyst price target $53
24:14 Company in “organizational disarray”
24:35 Stock buyback
25:40 Potential risks
27:20 Final comments
27:30 AI’s accounting
28:05 Are unbilled receivables being used to beat quarterly guidance? (Slide 43)
29:45 More questions raised about Baker-Hughes partnership
30:05 Summary
SumZero •

Spruce Point CIO Ben Axler Shorts TaskUs, Inc. (TASK: US), Saying it Could be a "Busted IPO Story"

For more information on Spruce Point Capital's thesis on TaskUs go to https://www.sprucepointcap.com/taskus-inc/.
For more fundamental-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00 Start
00:10 Divya Narendra introduction
00:45 Ben Axler introduction
00:56 “Good time to look at the vintage 2021 IPOs”
01:06 TaskUs (TASK) IPO, original prospectus and filings
01:29 TaskUs promoted by Blackstone (BX:US)
01:44 TASK’s “marquee customers:” Facebook, Netflix, Zoom, Tinder
02:10 Promotion vs. reality
02:22 History of embellishing details
02:35 “Pattern of overstatement of the business, revenue, workforce…”
02:45 Questions raised about attrition rate, recruiting and retaining
03:16 TASK CEO
04:18 TASK as BPO provider: little differentiation, growing competition
06:00 TASK’s definition of attrition
06:40 Spruce Point’s calculation of TASK attrition rate
07:27 Other metrics and disclosures
08:03 No disclosure of interest income
08:18 Examining TASKS’s unit economics: average revenue/cost per employee
09:04 Facebook business
09:56 80% of receivables from Facebook
10:40 Risks posed by AI and other automated approaches to content moderation
11:01 Problems tied to fixed-price contracts
12:14 “Classic signs of financial strain”
12:21 EBITDA, margins, and guidance
13:00 Challenges to business
13:30 Embellishments by CEO
14:35 Employee workforce statements
14:54 Office locations and number
15:20 Opacity around revenue before 2015
15:46 Chief Accounting Officer background
16:20 This is a business that deserves to trade at a discount
16:35 CFO’s prior involvement with Sify
16:45 Sify and Satyam accounting scandal
17:10 Unbilled receivables, warnings about cash collection issues
17:35 Unbilled receivables to revenue ratio rising
19:07 Cashflow lagging key headline metrics (slide 29)
19:35 Efforts to make pro-forma adjustments on EBITDA due to Covid-19
20:24 Overvalued relative to peer set
21:36 Balance sheet
22:25 Concerns about discussions about acquisitions
24:17 Target Price24:44 “We think this is rapidly approaching a busted IPO story.”
25:18 BPO companies that Spruce Point are long
26:41 Spruce Point long Concentrix (CNXC: US) Majorel Group (MAJ: AMS)
26:51 CNXC long case
28:48 MAJ long case
30:03 Macro commentary on recent tech and market volatility
31:53 “The sell-off has been somewhat orderly”
32:26 Russia Ukraine conflict
32:39 “War is always bullish for the market.”
33:20 Final comments on shorting TASK
33:55 TASK lock-up period has expired
SumZero •

This Fund Started by Turning $100k into $13M With Options: Here's Why They're Bullish on Tesla

For fundamental-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com. For more on Good Soil Investment Management, go to https://goodsoilinvestment.com/.
00:00 Start
00:10 Introduction: Divya Narendra
01:50 Good Soil’s entry into TSLA with options
02:50 Good Soil’s investing strategy
03:05 Emmet Peppers’ background
03:34 Risk tolerance
03:44 Biggest position is in TSLA stock and options
04:11 TSLA roughly half of Good Soil exposure
04:44 AUM
05:15 History of Good Soil
05:28 Growth from $100k - $13M using options on $SQ, $PTON, $QQQ, and $TSLA in 2020
08:00 Matt Smith discusses the TSLA bear thesis and criticisms of Elon Musk
08:44 TSLA’s path to autonomous driving vehicle
09:00 Robo-taxis represent massive upside
11:37 TSLA’s new product lines: “an incubator of new technologies”12:10 Implications of robo-taxis
14:44 Timeline on robo-taxis
16:47 Regulatory barriers; competitors in autonomous vehicle space
20:35 Comma.ai
22:04 Technological capabilities of competitors
22:25 Scalability of autonomous videos
23:59 How Tesla trains its autonomous driving with Full Self Driving feature and other data
25:03 Attractiveness of TSLA features
29:17 Misconceptions of TSLA and base case valuation of TSLA
32:35 Benefits of FSD option
38:37 Initial options strategy and its evolution
41:04 Cryptocurrency and NFT interest
41:51 Coinbase (COIN: US)
42:20 FTX crypto exchange (private)
42:55 Bitcoin
43:44 Bitcoin proxies: Microstrategy (MSTR: US)
44:58 Strategy surrounding MSTR and options
48:00 Metaverse stocks
48:12 Roblox (RBLX: US) “a slice of the met averse)
54:08 Final comments
SumZero •

Ben Mezrich and Divya on The Antisocial Network, Keith Gill, WallStreetBets, Elon, Facebook & More!

Check out Ben Mezrich at https://www.benmezrich.com and https://twitter.com/benmezrich. For fundamental-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00 Start
00:15 Introduction
00:30 Divya’s appearance in The Accidental Billionaires
01:55 Ben on The Accidental Billionaires
02:16 Reactions to The Social Network film
03:38 Ben’s interest in the GameStop story
04:20 How Ben came to write The Antisocial Network
04:44 Studios in bidding war
04:55 Movie deal with MGM
05:05 David vs. Goliath
06:01 Themes in Ben’s work
06:25 Perception of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook
06:40 Bitcoin Billionaires, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
06:55 The Antisocial Network/GameStop investors
07:11 Gabe Plotkin/Melvin Capital
07:35 Plotkin’s reputation as a smart investor
08:07 Short squeezes and asymmetric risk
08:26 Questions about why GME was re-shorted
08:50 GME fundamentals before short squeeze
09:55 Potential risks in shorting a stock
10:50 Ben’s research and sources on major players
11:50 Portrayal of Gabe Plotkin
13:35 Keith Gill/The Roaring Kitty/DeepFuckingValue
14:13 Keith Gill “a real hero in this story:
14:30 Why Ben sees Keith Gill as a hero
14:45 Keith Gill’s sincerity
15:40 Why Keith Gill might have seen value in GME
15:50 GME as a community
16:25 Ryan Cohen’s involvement in GME
16:57 Michael Burry’s involvement in GME
17:31 Hedge fund analysts long GME on SumZero
19:00 Keith Gill as a value investor
19:50 Reddit investors and GME short squeezes
20:35 Keith Gill bought more shares after congressional hearing
20:45 “This is a guy who truly believes in GameStop”
20:55 Ken Griffin, Citadel, and Robinhood
21:50 Payment for order flow: understanding Robinhood’s financial model
22:53 Possible problem w/ Citadel’s relationship with Robinhood
23:22 Robinhood’s freeze of GME trades
23:43 Clearing and collateral issues cited by Robinhood
25:11 Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenet and questions of liquidity
25:52 Liquidity
26:15 Payment for order flow model
28:11 Cryptocurrency, Robinhood, and regulation
31:37 Bitcoin Billionaires
31:50 The Antisocial Network, WallStreetBets, and democratizing finance
32:18 Value becomes divorced from fundamentals in meme stock trading
33:12 How narratives shape fundamentals
33:58 Dangers of volatility for investors trading meme stocks
34:35 Retail investors exposed to significant risk
35:17 Celebrities tweeting on GME, stocks, crypto, and SPACs
36:58 Self-awareness of celebrities (Elon Musk) pushing stock tickers
37:15 Elon Musk
39:15 Dogecoin
39:40 Dogecoin as modern art
41:18 Elon Musk as part of a David vs. Goliath narrative
42:35 Facebook metrics
43:00 “The rumor number:” why stock prices sometimes drop after earnings beats
43:25 Tesla narratives/Tesla the original meme stock
44:28 Chamath Palihapitiya
45:25 The significant anger driving many retail investors
46:06 Kim: character in book
47:09 Revolution
47:50 “The rationality has left the market”48:10 Ride of the irrational investor in financial markets
49:02 Jeremy and Sarah characters in book
50:14 Peer pressure to HODL
52:02 The Antisocial Network film
52:52 Ugly Americans book
53:43 The Midnight Ride books and film
54:33 Final Thoughts
SumZero •

SubPrime Bull: Fund Manager Judd Arnold Says KPLT's "land grab" in BNPL is a BUY NOW

8/16/21 Update: LCRM's Judd Arnold reports that he has closed his position on KPLT: details are here https://sumzero.com/pro/research/ideas/19975.
Lake Cornelia Research Management CIO discusses his bullish thesis on Katapult Holdings Ltd. (US: KPLT) with SumZero CEO Divya Narendra. Read Judd's 60 page memo for free with a SumZero login here: https://sumzero.com/pro/research/ideas/19975
Presentation slides available here: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/09I_mT6N3SVvX2XSbdQcRSZ3A#LCRM_KPLT_CALL_8-2-21
For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00 Start
00:10 Divya Narendra intro
00:40 Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) trend in consumer spending
00:50 Square (US: SQ) acquisition of AfterPay
01:05 Jargon
01:24 Judd Arnold intro and discussion of BNPL and subprime financing space
01:45 BNPL segmented across verticals
02:13 "Pay 4", Average Order Value, (AOV) and BNPL (Slide 7)
03:15 Advantages of financing over credit cards
03:33 Volume of receivables
03:55 Square and the AfterPay deal
04:12 AfterPay's penetration in the Australian market
04:26 KPLT's higher AOV
04:37 Competition from Acima and Progressive (US:PRG)
05:02 Market demographics, subprime credit customers
05:11 Wayfair (US: W), furniture, and auto parts
05:29 7-month average on KPLT leases
07:18 Savings relative to compounded credit card interest
07:43 How defaults are handled
09:10 How payments are handled
09:44 The two things American consumers can't live without
10:44 BNPL and bad debt expense
11:01 Direct lender OPFI's 35 - 40% credit losses
11:20 KPLT's 3% credit losses
11:40 Is KPLT pure fintech? (Slide 11)
12:06 PRG has over 2000 employees
12:18 KPLT has 80-90 employees
12:43 KPLT partnership with Affirm (US: AFRM)
14:11 KPLT's free cash flow (Slide 20)
15:30 How KPLT manages client credit risk
16:00 Credit data granularity "beyond FICO scores"
16:57 Algorithms bidding on extending credit to Wayfair customers
17:10 "KPLT winning on two fronts"
17:30 KPLT bidding aggressively on existing customers
18:10 KPLT holds data for 1.5M subprime credit customers
18:20 KPLT algos faster to respond than competition
19:05 Integration, diversification, partnerships
19:25 Quarterly revenue determinants
21:35 Addressing concern's about Wayfair's '21 Q2 (Slide 17)
22:18 "Wayfair risk isn't about the quarter" (Slide 16)
22:45 KPLT's partnership with Wayfair is an advantage
23:25 Total addressable market
23:54 Customer acquisition potential (Slide 15)
24:48 Most small merchants only have one subprime solution
25:40 "This is all a land grab right now"
27:15 PRG's 3 biggest customers
27:43 BNPL market is growing
29:20 KPLT history, founders, and early investors
31:58 KPLT's relationship with CURO Group (US:CURO)
32:16 KPLT 30-40% of CURO's market cap
32:26 How KPLT went public: SPAC, PIPE investors, etc
36:16 Recent dip and free cash flow
39:50 KPLT's investments in growth
41:00 Understanding KPLT's business (Slide 20)
41:41 Biggest threats to KPLT
42:31 Waterfall partnership with AFRM (Slide 9)
43:53 Barriers to entry in subprime
45:54 Macro-risks to BNPL in COVID-19 era
48:20 Square/AfterPay and KPLT's recent performance
49:35 PIPE unlock likely a non-event
50:45 Q2 earnings expectations (Slide 14)
52:03 Possible catalysts
55:15 Target price by end of 2022
56:45 Kafene
58:14 Closing remarks
Copyright 2021 SumZero Inc (www.sumzero.com). No portion of this video - including any excerpted audio - may be used without express written permission from the copyright holders.
SumZero •

The Ax-Man Cometh: Spruce Point's Ben Axler Says OTLY Stock Should Be Less Than $10 in Brutal Short

For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00 Start
00:10 Introduction: Divya Narendra
02:04 How Spruce Point found Oatly (US: OTLY)
02:45 OTLY’s U.S. marketing
03:19 OTLY’s IPO
03:53 OTLY’s product portfolio
04:01 OTLY’s background and history
04:23 “Never really been profitable”
04:35 Fight with dairy industry
04:55 Possible market share loss
05:08 Pivot to foreign markets
05:32 Oat milk 90% of sales
07:11 Competitors, barriers to entry
07:39 SunOpta, Inc (US: STKL)
08:17 Chobani, PlanetOat, Coca-Cola (US: KO)
08:28 Quaker Oats and PepsiCo’s (US: PEP) entry into and withdrawal from oat beverage market
08:52 Market complicated by non-dairy milk blends
09:24 OTLY products above market price
10:20 OTLY’s marketing
10:40 Controversy over New Zealand billboard
11:25 OTLY’s core market: Millennials and Gen Z
11:35 Lack of marketing to children
12:20 Valuation and narratives
12:50 Sales growth story and unrealistic 20% sales growth projections
13:11 Monster Energy (US: MNST)
14:25 “We see everything currently going wrong…”
14:31 Commodity costs not quantified in disclosures
14:55 Inflation driving up prices of oats and canola oil
15:05 No hedges against inflation disclosed
15:40 Capital spending, CapEx costs, historic spending issues
16:52 Possible market share decline
17:52 Price war with competitors and house brands
18:19 Oat milk comparisons
19:02 Campbell Soup (US: CPB) and concerns about OTLY’s claims of no added sugar
19:55 Environmental impact
20:40 Oat milk water-intensive
21:00 Wastewater issues revealed through FOIA request
22:22 Concerns about OTLY management, board, and auditors
25:25 Skepticism about pivot to foreign market
26:05 Starbucks (US: SBUX) partnership and oat milk shortage
27:51 Entry into China and competition with Vitasoy
28:40 Interviews with former employees
29:16 CapEx spending above company statements
29:26 Problems with NJ property
30:35 OTLY’s fair value, Spruce Point’s target price: less than $10.00 share
31:55 “A busted IPO”
32:42 OTLY’s balance sheet
33:25 Possible reversals for OTLY
35:40 Broader view on fad foods, Beyond Meat (US: BYND)
39:15 Questions about relative healthiness of plant-based alternative foods
40:34 Possible catalysts
40:44 Lack of response from management
42:04 “If you’re having trouble supplying the market… Why are you discounting?”

Copyright 2021 SumZero Inc (www.sumzero.com). No portion of this video - including any excerpted audio - may be used without express written permission from the copyright holders.
SumZero •

Here's Why ODP Could Be the Next Gamestop and Triple Before Meme Stock Investors Discover It

For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00 Start
00:10 Divya Narendra intro
00:41 Brian Finn introduction and background
01:21 FIN Capital AUM
01:37 FIN Cap's investing strategy: factors leading to dislocation
01:47 Technical factors
01:58 Behavioral factors
02:26 Role of diligence to determination valuation asymmetry in strategy
03:25 How FIN Cap became aware of ODP Corporation (NASDAQ: ODP)
04:37 ODP's three businesses: CompuCom, retail, Business Solutions
05:15 ODP's struggles after 2017 CompuCom acquisition
05:35 ODP's retail business
06:09 ODP shifting focus to Business Solutions and B2B
06:50 ODP today: preparing to sell CompuCom and retail business
07:20 Negotiations with Sycamore Partners/Staples; CompuCom price
07:36 ODP's net cash $400M
08:10 Business Solutions w/ $5B revenue
08:48 Anticipated growth/multiples
10:23 ODP positioned to transform by adding verticals
11:10 ADP's advantage over Amazon (AMZN)
12:36 ODP's strength/potential as 3rd party marketplace
13:15 Opportunities as COVID-19 restrictions recede
14:43 ODP as middleman/distributor for office supplies
15:39 AMZN's problems as a business supplier
16:24 Management team and activist investors
18:50 ODP buying back shares
20:18 Potential value as distribution business
22:12 ODP rejects last 3 Sycamore/Staples bids
23:26 Speculation on Sycamore/Staples timeline
24:44 Little sell-side coverage
25:54 Primary risks to ODP
27:41 Could ODP be the next meme stock? Retail interest in ODP
28:53 Short interest
29:52 Gamestop (GME) on SumZero
30:36 Return potential on ODP
32:50 Other positions: investment potential in offshore drilling
35:19 Valaris pls (NYSE: VAL)
Copyright 2021 SumZero Inc (www.sumzero.com). No portion of this video - including any excerpted audio - may be used without express written permission from the copyright holders.
SumZero •

Could Cano Health, Inc be a Multi-Bagger Investment? Here's Why CIO Judd Arnold Says Yes.

For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00 Start
00:10 Divya Narendra opening remarks
00:48 Judd Arnold background
03:05 Value-Based Care (VBC)
03:24 Idea behind VBC: prevention
03:47 Economics of VBC
04:03 Apprx. 1.5M people in VBC arrangements
04:17 Effects of VBC on public health
04:31 VBC and better health outcomes
04:41 Healthcare systems costs go down with VBC
05:04 #1 rule of investing in healthcare
05:18 Healthcare providers moving towards VBC
05:30 Projections and outlook for VBC companies
06:24 Judd's Cano Health Inc. (CANO) thesis
06:50 Target price on CANO
07:27 Other names in the space
07:40 Importance of geography: Florida, Texas, California, New York
07:50 CANO's advantage in geographic exposure
08:13 Oak Street Health (OSH)
08:34 Agilon Health (AGL)
09:02 Incentivizing primary care providers
09:58 CANO vs OSH and AGL
11:30 Economics and risk exposure to doctors partnering w/ VBC companies
11:49 Benefits to doctors: technology
13:05 Specialists and VBC
14:19 Why HMOs failed
14:58 Incentivizing doctors to improve practice
15:25 CANO's SPAC debut
15:52 How CANO went public
16:05 Judd's investment strategy with SPACs
16:36 CANO checked all boxes for a healthy IPO
17:00 CANO's parity w/ OSH on an EV-to-revenue basis - $35 share
17:13 History of CANO's SPAC: Starwood Capital's Barry Sternlicht
17:30 Doug Ostrover/Owl Rock Capital; Joseph Dowling/Fmr. CIO at Brown University
18:16 Explaining CANO's SPAC PIPE
18:57 History of the CANO offering 2016 to present
19:33 Partnership with InTandem Capital Partners
20:37 CANO has never had to raise money
21:00 Early PE interest in CANO
22:50 Barry Sternlicht's entry into and deep due diligence on CANO
24:37 InTandem's role
26:00 Major investors in CANO: Blackrock, Fidelity, Capital Group...
27:33 Understanding SPAC investors
28:52 Judd's metrics for CANO's valuation
29:15 CANO is the only VBC co. w/ EBITDA
29:35 Market valuation due to TAM
29:48 Terminal margins on CANO, OSH, and AGL
30:50 Nephron Research's bullish coverage on CANO
31:40 2021 expected sales $1.5B, 2022 $2.3B
31:50 2023 guidance $3B
32:00 Current total enterprise value: apprx. $6.6B, anticipated growth
33:48 VBC growth and effect on healthcare industry
35:17 Consolidation in VBC companies
36:11 CANO acquisitions
37:20 Catalysts for CANO
38:00 CANO's relatively low visibility due to I.R., P.R., lack of sell-side coverage, inexperience in SPACs
42:02 CANO has affirmed and raised numbers for 2021 and 2022
43:25 CANO's balance sheet
44:08 Addressing criticisms of CANO
45:20 Humana, OSH
45:58 Optics on Wall Street: "inorganic growth story."
47:10 CANO's strength in Florida
49:08 Risks to CANO
50:42 Judd's position in CANO: 1.5M shares
51:00 Potential for CANO as a multi-bagger
54:20 final remarks
Copyright 2021 SumZero Inc (www.sumzero.com). No portion of this video - including any excerpted audio - may be used without express written permission from the copyright holders.
SumZero •

Legendary Value Investor Mohnish Pabrai on Turkish Stocks, Big Tech, and Lessons from Warren Buffett

For more fundamentally-driven investment research on stocks as well as crypto, please join https://www.SumZero.com.
00:00:00 Start
00:01:15 Mohnish Pabrai introduction
00:01:34 Mohnish's start in value investing
00:01:52 Early influence of Peter Lynch
00:02:14 Influence of Warren Buffett
00:02:48 The Law of Investing
00:04:25 Turning ideas into actions
00:04:38 First investments
00:05:30 10% investment strategy
00:05:43 Personal investment strategy
00:06:27 Preserving wealth vs growth/index funds
00:07:50 Turnover in fund and personal assets
00:08:29 Mohnish's lunch with Warren Buffett
00:11:11 Cherry Coke and a T-bone steak
00:13:00 Rick Guerin's margin call
00:14:26 Warren Buffett advice about using leverage
00:15:30 Warren Buffett's inner vs. outer scorecard
00:17:19 Who Warren Buffett would have lunch with
00:20:05 What investors miss when they read about Buffett
00:22:36 Investment strategy: protecting the downside
00:22:54 The meaning of Dhandho
00:24:04 How Mohnish screens stocks
00:25:30 Using SumZero write-ups in value investment strategy
00:26:22 What Mohnish looks for in a stock
00:27:57 Investment opportunities in Turkey
00:28:07 Taking advantage of the Lira's collapse
00:28:36 Foreign investors exiting Turkish market
00:28:48 Turkish investing mentality more like gambling
00:30:19 Playing the market vs. investing
00:32:38 Coca-Cola Içecek (BIST: CCOLA)
00:34:07 Inflation in Turkey
00:37:46 $7M investment in Reysas Tasimacilik ve Lojistik Ticaret A.S
00:44:21 Mohnish Pabrai's other investments and picks
00:44:48 Seritage (US: SRG)
00:45:17 Alibaba (US: BABA) and Chinese tech
00:48:10 Future of cloud computing: BABA vs AMZN
00:49:12 BIDU and Tencent
00:49:55 Naspers
00:50:20 Tencent and WeChat
00:50:50 Tencent and Sea Limited (SE)
00:51:14 American competitors to Chinese tech
00:51:30 U.S. falling behind Chinese tech companies
00:52:15 Chinese advantage in eCommerce and apps
00:52:58 U.S. regulation effect on Facebook and others
00:57:14 South Korea's Coupang (US: CPNG)
00:57:27 Amazon and AWS: "a tax on the internet"
00:59:07 Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto
00:59:35 Cryptocurrency: "a strong likelihood of a bubble"
01:01:10 Impact of Biden's tax proposals on investment strategy
01:01:42 Capital gains tax and investing behavior
01:02:25 Politicians and promises
01:03:13 Disparity and polarization of wealth in the U.S.
01:04:54 Advice to aspiring professional investors
01:05:58 The most important personality trait for an investor
01:07:24 The Hero of Investing: Koos Bekker
01:11:00 Mohnish's positions in Micron (MU), Seritage (SRG)
01:12:15 Mohnish's position in REYSAS (IS)
01:12:38 Final thoughts
Copyright 2021 SumZero Inc (www.sumzero.com). No portion of this video - including any excerpted audio - may be used without express written permission from the copyright holders.
SumZero •

Legendary Value Investor Mohnish Pabrai on Turkish Stocks, Big Tech and his $650k Lunch with Warren Buffett

When we last spoke to Mohnish Pabrai in April 2020, his confidence was as unwavering as ever. While gloom seemed to grip the market, Mohnish and other value investors were hunting down deeply discounted stocks in the fire sale that followed the March crash, marking a resurgence of active investing. Amidst the sell-offs in the uncertainty generated by the pandemic, Mohnish Pabrai seemed almost serene. "This too shall pass," he told SumZero.
SumZero •

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Divya Narendra Interviews Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs, Crypto, and More

Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are probably the most well-known cryptocurrency investors in the world and for good reason: according to the New York Times, the two were early acolytes of blockchain-powered currency, having held positions in Bitcoin since 2012 before expanding to other coins and eventually launching the Gemini trading platform in 2015.