We are short $PVBC, a small #bank with massive crypto loan exposure. The loans are already #defaulting and share price is #rapidly declining. We think it’s a zero. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
$PVBC expanded its #crypto lending business to $138m within 18 months and yesterday impaired more than half of it. A 200yr old #bank went tits-up in a matter of months. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
The $PVBC crypto lending business was led by Paul #Mansfield, who we think, is an immediate family member of the bank’s CEO David Mansfield. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
Only after a write-down of repossessed collateral did $PVBC a formal review of the crypto loan portfolio. These #loans are backed by crypto-miners or solely #cryptocurrencies and used for crypto lending and #margin trading. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
In our opinion the #board of directors #failed its duties and was influenced by favors from $PVBC's management. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
The chairwoman of #compensation committee was awarded a contract for designing the $PVBC headquarter in 2017, five years later executives compensation totaled 27pct of the bank’s net profits. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
On top of it, in 2021 $PVBC switched its retirement plans from a collective trust to a self-managed one. More than 40% of savings were invested in its own stock. We estimate the #losses YTD at $7m. Read our report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
We think trust in $PVBC, the executives, and the board of directors has been completely lost. We expect further #revelations and #regulatory actions in the coming weeks. We are short $PVBC. Read our full report: bit.ly/3OisAKH
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$COCO's supply chain, touted as a competitive advantage, is a mess. Inventory shortages have upset retailers, with Walmart downgrading shelf placement & reducing SKUs, leading to double-digit sales declines.
$COCO's private-label story is cracking. Investors expect small customer losses in 2025, but we found Costco, representing ~25% of net sales, is terminating their partnership due to supply chain failures.
We are short Merchants Bancorp, $MBIN, because, our investigation uncovered that MBIN has been aggressively expanding its loan book by lending money to bad actors that have a history of:
fraud,
housing code violations, and
running properties into the ground.
The most significant expansion has taken place in $MBIN's multifamily and healthcare loan book, growing from $529 million in 2017 to $6.6bn in Mid-2024.
Multiplying its bridge loan portfolio by a factor of eleven in less than seven years.
(2/n)
$MBIN claims to be different from other banks facing over-exposure to risky commercial property, at 411%, MBIN actually has one of the highest CRE concentration ratios in the US.
We are short ODDITY TECH, $ODD, is hyped as an AI-powered online-only company selling cosmetics. In a 3-month investigation, we uncovered that it misled investors about every critical aspect of its business, Some highlights below. Find the detailed report: ningiresearch.com/?p=650
$ODD's competitive strengths were described as a: “differentiated online-only strategy powered by AI-optimized product personalization.”
We discovered that ODDITY Tech's true business is the exact opposite: simple one-size-fits-all quizzes and brick-and-mortar stores.
#ODDITY's product-matching AI is akin to “a normal questionnaire,” which a former executive “wouldn’t necessarily call AI.” In an interview, $ODD's current Chief Product Officer described the product quizzes as “simple questions with four possible answers,” with no mention of AI.
We are short $WMT and $SYM. $WMTcontracted $SYM to retrofit its supply chain. It's a cornerstone of $WMT's omnichannel strategy. But $SYM outsourced its duties to third-party contractors. We see significant downside for both stocks, read our report: https://t.co/rRHneloDsvningiresearch.com
$WMT relies on Symbotic’s automation systems to achieve its strategic goals. But all products are still in prototype status, $SYM’s management acknowledged that. $SYM products lack innovation, while competitors introduced similar solutions decades ago.
$SYM self-claimed innovative breakpack system is a #farce. The system is heavily reliant on manual labor. On its Investor day, $SYM's CTO wanted to skip the video clip showcasing the breakpack solution. We believe so investors don’t see that it’s not as innovative as claimed.
We are short Arbor Realty Trust ($ABR), a Mortgage REIT focused on real estate bridge financing. We believe $ABR hid debt off-balance, faked revenue and hundreds of millions of dollars are missing. We think the stock is downside up to 67%, read our report: ningiresearch.com
$ABR owns a toxic and worthless portfolio of mobile homes called Lexford/Empirian, loaded with $582m of debt. Arbor secretly invested millions into wholly-owned Lexford but shareholders only received 4.1% of total profits. More than $159m is missing.
By hiding Lexford Arbor Realty Trust saved itself from technical insolvency in the past. Till 2017 $ABR’s book value was negative. Viewed in isolation, consolidating #Lexford leads to a 24% lower BVPS, read our report: ningiresearch.com