The Bear Cave #314

New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week

Feb 22, 2026

Welcome to The Bear Cave! Our last premium articles were “Even More Problems at DraftKings (DKNG)” and “Problems at Yelp (YELP)” and our next special investigation for paid readers comes out Thursday, March 5.

New Activist Reports

Snow Cap Research published on Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ: STRL — $13.4 billion), a U.S. construction company that specializes in data centers. Snow Cap called the company “a poster child for the AI bubble” and claimed the company’s narrative of being a data center infrastructure company is “a mirage.” Based on subsidiary contract data, Snow Cap concluded that Sterling “materially overstated the scale of its data center business, has inflated margins through aggressive accounting, and is dramatically overvalued.”

Spruce Point Capital published on Nova Minerals (NASDAQ: NVA — $255 million), a gold mining exploration company. Spruce Point said that “investor expectations are too high” and the company “faces significant challenges in commercial efforts” in Alaska. In addition, Spruce Point “unsuccessfully attempted to verify the existence” of Nova’s claimed consulting geologist, who is also responsible for data evaluation and quality control.

Red Flag Research also published on Nova Minerals and identified “extreme concerns” regarding the integrity of the data underpinning the company’s resource estimates. In addition, Red Flag Research raised concerns about the company’s heavy dilution history and “promotion vs execution gap.”

Gotham City Research published a new report on Carvana (NYSE: CVNA — $73.8 billion), an online platform for buying and selling used cars. Gotham City found evidence that “identified 34 new vehicles/VINs that Carvana sold, and where [related party] Bridgecrest, not Carvana, is the ultimate lienholder.” Gotham City tweeted:

“Carvana narrowly claims it hasn’t sold loans directly to DriveTime in many years, yet CVNA loans end up in DriveTime/Bridgecrest’s hands. How? Though the exact mechanism remains unexplained, what’s evident is: Carvana’s Gain on Loan Sales are ultimately tied to DriveTime/Bridgecrest.”

Recent Resignations

Notable executive departures disclosed in the past week include:

CFO of Gemini Space Station (NASDAQ: GEMI — $684 million) “will be parting ways” after nearly one year. The company’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer departed as well. The cryptocurrency company is down ~80% since its September 2025 IPO.
CFO of CPI Card Group (NASDAQ: PMTS — $137 million) “will cease serving” with immediate effect after a little under three years. The credit and debit card technology company has had six CFOs over the last ten years.
CFO of Yeti Holdings (NYSE: YETI — $3.71 billion) departed after three years.
Mr. Thomas Pritzker, Executive Chairman of Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H — $16.2 billion), “will not stand for re-election” after 21 years on the board. Mr. Pritzker’s decision comes after his emails with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell became public. Mr. Pritzker, who was a frequent guest at Epstein’s townhouse, said in part,
“I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner… I condemn the actions and the harm caused by Epstein and Maxwell and I feel deep sorrow for the pain they inflicted on their victims.”

Data for this section is provided by VerityData from VerityPlatform.com

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News of the Week

“Why Risk-Loving Options Traders Are Flocking to Prediction Markets” (WSJ)

“Some prediction bets mimic traditional derivatives found on Wall Street. For example, instead of betting on a rise in Nvidia shares this month by purchasing call options, a trader could go on Polymarket and buy contracts for ‘What will Nvidia (NVDA) hit in February 2026?’”

“UnitedHealth Chief Made Private Side Bets on Healthcare Startups” (WSJ)

“Stephen Hemsley, leader of giant UnitedHealth Group, for years has made private investments in healthcare startups, including firms that do business with—or compete against—UnitedHealth.”

“Blue Owl permanently halts redemptions at private credit fund aimed at retail investors” (FT)

“The New York investment group on Wednesday said investors in Blue Owl Capital Corp II would no longer be able to redeem their investments in quarterly intervals but that the company would instead return investors’ capital in episodic payments as it sells down assets in coming quarters and years.”