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Category: Revisits

Contrarian Calls, Revisited: Quintessential Capital’s Short of Akazoo

Published November 16, 2020

Gabriele Grego of Quintessential Capital Management used the inaugural Contrarian Investor Virtual Conference to announce his short of Akazoo (NASDAQ:SONG).

“We believe Akazoo is a scheme orchestrated by management to profit while egregiously deceiving investors,” Grego said during the presentation. “We see signs of very suspicious accounting manipulation,” including cash inconsistencies and “a total lack of income taxes.”

What Happened

Akazoo shares sold off immediately after publication of Grego’s report. After closing the previous session at $2.53, SONG dropped to $2.22. A series of law firms quickly lined up to launch lawsuits against the company.

A week later the stock was trading at $1.14,. The company fired its CEO and Nasdaq suspended trading in its shares. On May 21, an Akazoo special committee of independent directors announced that management and associates “participated in sophisticated multi-year fraud.”

Nasdaq delisted the shares on May 27.

Akazoo has since become a poster child for SPAC misconduct, with the Financial Times devoting an article to Grego and his report (see below).

Shameless Plug Alert: The next iteration of the Contrarian Investor Virtual Conference, our fifth, takes place Dec. 10. Get tickets here.

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Contrarian Calls, Revisited: Value Stock Geek’s Bullish Take on Certain Retail Stocks

Published September 28, 2020

Value Stock Geek, well known by his Twitter handle @ValueStockGeek, was bullish on shares of certain retail companies.

Speaking on the podcast in June 2019, the guest said E-Commerce had not yet destroyed old-fashioned retail commerce. “The retail sector is now a hated and beaten-up sector and it’s mainly because of Amazon and E-commerce,” he said at the time. “But I think the current narrative is overblown…right now, E-Commerce as a percentage of retail sales represents about 10% of all retail sales. That means that 90% of all retail transactions still happen in the store.”

Value Stock Geek’s favorite stocks were Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DSK) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN).

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Contrarian Calls, Revisited: Chris Stanton’s Prediction for a 20% Drop in the S&P 500

Published June 15, 2020

Chris Stanton, chief investment officer at Sunrise Capital, this January said a market correction was long overdue. With risk seemingly everywhere, Stanton predicted a drop of 20% in the S&P 500 by the end of the first quarter, or March 31.

“Rest assured, we’re heading for a correction and I would argue it’s going to be terrifying when it comes,” Stanton said in the Season 2 premier.

The S&P 500 was around 3,300 at the time of Stanton’s statement.

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