What I've Been Reading (6/14-7/5)
Three weeks of news and filings.
6/14-7/5/26
News, filings, etc.
In case you missed it - my first pass look at TDW. I am trying to get better at using Claude Skills to accelerate my research process and want to use these quick looks to refine that (link)
MT Newswires: “United Parks & Resorts’ (PRKS) traffic figures has shown improvement in May, but June numbers need to improve substantially for the company to show growth for the quarter, UBS said in a Friday note.”
CCOI supplemental indenture - we will give you more room on the leverage ratio, but we want the money from the data center sales (and ring-fence the IRUs)
Meta to invest $900 million in India’s CRED, taps founder to lead WhatsApp (link)
Atai Capital letter (link)
ALOT, acquired for $29/sh: “Furthermore, I largely attribute this positive outcome to a friend of mine and activist, Samir Patel, of Askeladden Capital. His proxy contest, which won the endorsement of both ISS and Glass Lewis, led to positive business, management, and governance changes that might not have happened otherwise.”
BKTI: “Put differently, the company expects to compound revenues at 15%+ and nearly 4x EPS from 2025 ($3.44/sh → $13.00/sh), and they expect to do all this organically… The company has certainly had the balance sheet required for substantial M&A for a while now and is sitting on roughly $30M of net cash today, but still has resisted rushing into any large or forced deals. Instead, they’ve recently begun repurchasing their own shares in the open market.” Trades at ~18x this year’s guide UFCF.
CASY investor day (link)
SGI/LEG merger doc: “Mr. Thompson also noted that a principal benefit to Somnigroup of a combination with Leggett & Platt would be the enhanced security of innerspring supply to fulfill Tempur Sealy’s needs. Accordingly, if a transaction with Somnigroup did not proceed as Somnigroup intended, following the mid-2028 expiration of the supply agreement between Leggett & Platt and Tempur Sealy, Somnigroup intended to diversify its innerspring supply sources by pursuing alternative innersprings supply.”
DLTR: “Dollar Tree (DLTR) said Thursday that several investment funds tied to Mantle Ridge are executing a secondary block trade to sell 12.8 million common shares. The company will not issue any equity or collect any cash proceeds from the private sale and has agreed to buy back $500 million of its own shares from Goldman Sachs (GS) following the completion of the trade, the company said.”
KKR: “Based on year-to-date information available as of June 24, 2026, KKR has experienced an acceleration in its monetization activity and, in turn, an acceleration in capital returned to its clients. In Q1 2026, monetization activity (Realized Performance Income and Realized Investment Income) was $878 million, or +62% compared to the quarterly average of $542 million from 2023 through 2025. $900 million would be +66% compared to this 3-year quarterly average.”
Great new podcast on investing with AI (link)
Lloyd Blankfein on how he manages his PA (link)
John Huber on cable (link)
"Nearly half of [Chris Hohn's] portfolio’s assets are concentrated in three aerospace names – Safran, GE Aerospace, and Airbus. This reflects his view that these businesses are highly protected from disruption." (link)
Awesome tech focused FinTwit conference coming to Austin in November (link)
PYPL EV/FCF
CMCSA splitting in two, transaction expected to close within a year.
“We’ll be reporting in about 3 weeks, and you won’t see much by way of surprise. We broadly expect financial and operating metrics to be within expectations.”
I am unsure why CMCSA was up 20%+ in pre-market trading on the announcement, yet now at the time of writing is only +3% from pre-announcement prices.
Could be a precursor to further M&A, even though management denied that this was the reason for the split
CCOI closed sale of 10 DCs for $225m in proceeds
CULP +11% on 4QFY26 results
Bedding up 12% sequentially and 12.5% yoy
Carlos Alberini (director of RH, former co-CEO of RH, and current CEO of Guess?) purchased ~$1.8m RH stock.
CVNA continues its push into the new vehicle franchise business (CNBC)
Now has 7 franchises primarily selling Stellantis’ Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands
Casa Grande location sold 700 cars in a month vs previous rate of ~30-50
FUN new COO: “Mark Pauls is a disciplined operator with nearly five decades of experience in the entertainment industry. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Herschend Family Entertainment, where he played a key role in the integration of Palace Entertainment. Prior to its December 2025 acquisition by Herschend Family Entertainment, Pauls was the Vice President of Operations at Palace Entertainment. In that role, he oversaw the operations of the company’s nationwide portfolio and developed and directed operational efficiency and cost reduction initiatives that resulted in improved profitability and enhanced EBITDA performance. Earlier in his career, Pauls held senior leadership roles at SeaWorld Parks and Busch Gardens, where he oversaw park and facility operations with a focus on guest service and satisfaction.”
Replacing Tim Fisher, another one of the legacy Cedar Fair managers
Standing asks - reach out if
You know someone in London/UK looking for an analyst role
You need help finding your next analyst
Disclosure: this is not investment advice. I/we may hold positions in securities mentioned.