Investment Pitches

Pitch Summary:
Cellebrite, which provides software to help law enforcement investigators extract and analyze data from smartphones, provided an outlook that was below expectations, as there were delays in closing deals with government customers, both in the United States and abroad. Despite the temporary setback, which was due primarily to leadership changes and unsettled budgets, two secular trends remain intact: one is the use of smartphone data in detecting and prosecuting criminal activity; the other is the need to comply with standards to preserve the chain of custody of evidence collected during investigations.

BSD Analysis:
Cellebrite is a dominant player in digital intelligence, helping law enforcement and enterprises extract and analyze data from mobile devices and cloud sources. Demand is rising as digital evidence becomes central to virtually every investigation. The company’s platform approach — combining extraction, analytics, and case management — strengthens stickiness and recurring revenue. Regulatory scrutiny exists, but Cellebrite generally operates with government partnerships and transparency that insulate it from the worst risks. Transition to a subscription-heavy model is boosting margins and improving visibility. As cybercrime and digital forensics workloads increase, Cellebrite’s relevance only grows. Investors still treat it like a niche Israeli tech vendor, but it’s quietly becoming essential infrastructure.

Pitch Summary:
Viper Energy owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties primarily in the Permian Basin. The company’s stock was under pressure following the decline in oil prices brought on by global macroeconomic concerns spurred by the ongoing trade war as well as the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to bring more production online in the coming months. Despite this, we remain optimistic about the company’s prospects, as it continues to strengthen its position in the minerals space, partly through accretive acquisitions. Additionally, its relationship with its parent company, Diamondback, gives Viper Energy what we regard as unrivaled visibility to future growth, a characteristic that is currently lacking throughout most of the oil and gas industry.

BSD Analysis:
Viper Energy is a mineral and royalty company that enjoys the upside of oil and gas production without carrying the heavy capital burden of drilling. Its asset base in the Permian Basin gives it exposure to some of the most productive shale acreage in the world. Royalty models generate exceptionally high margins and free cash flow, making Viper more durable than traditional E&Ps. Production growth from operators like Diamondback directly benefits Viper without dilution or cost inflation. Commodity volatility matters, but Viper’s cost structure is almost nonexistent, providing resilience even in downturns. The company has been disciplined in acquisitions, consolidating royalty interests at attractive valuations. This is one of the cleaner cash-yield stories in U.S. energy.

Pitch Summary:
Aris Water Solutions provides water infrastructure and solutions for the oil and gas industry within the Delaware subbasin of the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The shares declined because of concerns about what the recent downturn in oil prices would mean for drilling activity on the company’s footprint. Despite this ongoing fluid situation, the company’s results remain more tied to ongoing oil production, where it provides an essential service to operators, primarily by handling, disposing of, or recycling volumes of produced water that continue to grow as shale wells mature and the quality of the resource slowly declines.

BSD Analysis:
Aris provides water handling and recycling solutions for the Permian Basin, an increasingly critical function as producers face sustainability and regulatory pressures. The company operates essential midstream water infrastructure, giving it toll-road-like economics tied to oilfield activity. Recycling volumes are growing as operators pivot from freshwater to treated produced water, expanding Aris’s addressable market. Long-term contracts provide revenue visibility, though commodity cycles still influence sentiment. The balance sheet is solid, giving Aris room to expand infrastructure in high-growth zones. Water management in the Permian is a structural necessity, not a nice-to-have, and Aris is one of the few scaled players. This remains an underappreciated infrastructure story in the energy ecosystem.

Pitch Summary:
Boot Barn Holdings is a U.S. retailer specializing in western and work footwear, apparel, and accessories through physical stores and online. The stock rebounded sharply after reporting solid quarterly results and providing forward guidance, inclusive of tariffs, that exceeded expectations. Boot Barn’s brand strength continues to reflect its enduring nature, which is underpinned by strong consumer enthusiasm and widespread appeal and reinforced by management’s ability to execute well to offset the impacts of tariffs.

BSD Analysis:
Boot Barn has turned Western wear into a national growth story, benefiting from a fashion cycle that has more durability than skeptics admit. New store expansion continues at a rapid clip, supported by strong unit economics in both large and mid-sized markets. The company’s private-label penetration is a major margin lever, lifting profitability with every incremental sale. Boot Barn’s customer base is loyal, and the brand has expanded well beyond regional relevance. Despite consumer softness in some categories, Boot Barn keeps outperforming specialty retail peers. E-commerce and omnichannel upgrades have quietly improved inventory turns and reduced markdown risk. As long as Western apparel stays culturally relevant, Boot Barn’s growth runway remains long.

Pitch Summary:
AeroVironment is a defense technology provider of integrated capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace. Following several quarters of choppy results that caused investors to question the company’s future growth prospects after a swift decline in the revenue contribution from Ukraine’s war with Russia, the shares rebounded largely on the prospects of increased global defense spending in a number of next-generation product areas that the company provides. After a period of some doubt, the company also closed what we view as a transformational acquisition of BlueHalo.

BSD Analysis:
AeroVironment is the purest small-drone defense play in the market, with systems that are proven, battle-tested, and increasingly essential to modern warfare. The Ukraine conflict has validated the importance of loitering munitions and tactical drones — AVAV is at the center of that shift. The company’s portfolio spans reconnaissance, strike, and autonomous systems, giving it a diversified demand base within defense budgets. Supply-chain bottlenecks are easing, allowing AVAV to convert backlog more efficiently. With defense procurement pivoting toward distributed and resilient assets, AeroVironment is positioned for multi-year growth. Margins should improve as scale increases and production becomes less constrained. The stock still trades with skepticism, but the geopolitical backdrop says this demand is no fad.'

Pitch Summary:
ATI produces specialty metals and alloys for a diversified set of industries, but most notably aerospace and defense. After a period of somewhat challenging operating results in the past year, the company put together a more impressive quarter that exceeded expectations across the board. We believe the company’s desirable positioning within an exceptionally tight aerospace specialty alloys market sets it up for a bright future if it can continue executing. We also believe ATI’s exposure to newer-generation aircraft, an accelerating pricing environment, and newly announced contracts with a large OEM customer to which ATI historically has had little exposure all should provide for a positive backdrop going forward.

BSD Analysis:
ATI is a leveraged play on high-performance materials, with aerospace, energy, and medical markets driving demand for its specialty alloys. The aerospace cycle is still in expansion mode, supporting pricing and utilization in ATI’s most profitable segments. The company has repositioned away from commodity stainless toward higher-value titanium and nickel alloys, improving margins and reducing volatility. Energy markets, especially downstream refining and LNG, add another growth vector. The balance sheet is healthier than it’s been in years, giving ATI flexibility for investment or buybacks. Supply constraints in aerospace materials create a favorable supply/demand setup. If ATI continues executing, it can deliver earnings far above what the market expects for a “materials” name.

Pitch Summary:
Woodward develops and produces control systems and energy conversion solutions and components for the aerospace and industrial end markets. The stock performed well, driven by a quarterly report highlighted by particularly strong performance in the company’s aerospace aftermarket vertical and considerable margin strength. The potential for a long-waited increased rate of production from large airframe original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) could provide an additional tailwind to growth going forward. Investors also remain optimistic about the company’s growing exposure to newer-generation aircraft that is expected to result in a further step-change in aftermarket growth in the latter half of the decade.

BSD Analysis:
Woodward is a quietly powerful play on aerospace and industrial recovery, with exposure to commercial aviation, defense, and energy efficiency. The company’s control systems are mission-critical — once designed in, they’re incredibly sticky. As aircraft production ramps up post-pandemic, Woodward benefits from both OEM shipments and higher-margin aftermarket sales. Its industrial segment is tied to energy transition themes such as cleaner engines and distributed power. Margin expansion is underway as supply-chain pressures ease and mix shifts improve. Woodward has historically been disciplined in capital allocation, avoiding flashy deals in favor of organic growth. This is a steady compounder masquerading as a mid-cap industrial.

Pitch Summary:
Shake Shack is a fast-casual restaurant chain offering burgers, hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries, chicken dishes, milkshakes, and other beverages. The stock performed well, driven by strong quarterly margin performance and an upward revision to annual margin guidance. In addition, traffic trends showed notable improvement after poor weather dampened traffic during the first quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Shake Shack is evolving from a cult burger joint into a legitimate global fast-casual platform with pricing power and brand heat most competitors would kill for. Traffic remains lumpy, but menu innovation and digital ordering have expanded throughput without diluting the brand. International stores, especially in Asia and the Middle East, deliver stronger margins and faster paybacks than U.S. units. Shack’s premium positioning lets it push price more than typical fast-casual players, and customers still show up. Labor and input inflation are headwinds, but operational efficiencies are improving as the company scales. The digital ecosystem gives Shake Shack a long-term lever for loyalty and upsell. If management continues tightening execution, Shack can compound far longer than the market assumes.

Pitch Summary:
RH is a home furnishings retailer that designs, sells, and markets furniture, décor, textiles, and related products. The stock lagged driven by a combination of tariff pressures and weaker results. We were more concerned with the weaker business results, which marked a shift from the positive momentum the company had been building. A number of factors including consumer caution, higher interest rates, and overall housing weakness combined to nullify the strides RH has made in product and pricing strategies.

BSD Analysis:
RH continues to build a luxury ecosystem rather than a traditional furniture retail model, a shift that expands both margins and brand equity. The business has been hit by housing-market softness, but its affluent customer base is less sensitive to rate-driven cycles. International galleries and hospitality concepts add real long-term optionality, even if near-term execution requires patience. Gross margins should improve as supply-chain costs normalize and the company cycles through heavier promotional comparisons. RH remains one of the few brands in home furnishings that commands true pricing power. Inventory discipline and curated assortments keep the brand aspirational. When macro headwinds fade, RH is positioned to snap back quickly.

Pitch Summary:
Ryan is a leading insurance broker specializing in excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance. While first-quarter results exceeded expectations, the stock delivered lackluster results due to a slightly disappointing quarterly margin and investor concerns over a potentially challenging internal growth comparison in the second quarter. We view the margin miss as temporary and anticipate margin expansion throughout the remainder of the year and beyond. Additionally, while shorter-term property pricing pressures persist, we believe they will be outweighed over time by the outsized organic growth expected in the E&S market.

BSD Analysis:
Ryan Specialty is a pure play on the rise of specialty insurance, where complexity and customization matter far more than scale. As risks get weirder and more fragmented, brokers like Ryan who understand niche markets gain tremendous leverage. The company’s distribution power and underwriting partnerships create a high-margin, asset-light business model. Specialty pricing continues to trend firm, providing a favorable backdrop. Ryan’s organic growth consistently outpaces the broader insurance ecosystem, reflecting its strong competitive position. M&A adds incremental scale and expands its library of expertise. This is a structural grower in a corner of insurance that most investors still underappreciate.

Pitch Summary:
Okta, a provider of cybersecurity software with a focus on identity and access, reported solid results for the quarter, but the outlook was below expectations, which was especially disappointing after a strong move higher in the stock. The challenging macroeconomic environment resulted in prospective corporate customers turning slightly more pessimistic, which, along with near-term uncertainty in the federal segment, resulted in muted guidance. However, the need for security software remains intact, and the company should continue to benefit from cross-selling new products, such as identity governance and privileged access management that provides higher security for C-level executives.

BSD Analysis:
Okta is stabilizing after a messy period of security incidents, integration challenges, and competitive pressure in identity management. The shift toward unified identity platforms is real, and Okta’s independent positioning resonates as enterprises look to avoid vendor lock-in. Customer retention remains strong, and new product innovation in privileged access and identity governance is expanding the total addressable market. Profitability is improving as the company becomes more disciplined with spending. While competition from Microsoft is significant, Okta often wins on flexibility and neutrality. If management continues rebuilding trust and delivering consistent execution, the market may start valuing Okta like a durable security platform rather than a turnaround. The identity category is only getting more important in the AI era.

Pitch Summary:
Sarepta Therapeutics develops RNA-targeted medicines and gene therapies for rare neuromuscular diseases. The company reported quarterly revenue that exceeded expectations, but posted a larger than expected loss per share and revised its 2025 sales forecast downward. The stock sold off sharply after a second patient died from acute liver failure after being treated with Elevidys, its gene therapy for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

BSD Analysis:
Sarepta is a high-risk, high-reward biotech leveraging gene therapy to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, one of the most devastating genetic diseases. The company already has multiple approved therapies, giving it a real revenue base — rare for a gene-therapy name. Launch execution for its latest therapy is crucial, but early data and physician enthusiasm are encouraging. The regulatory path remains complex, yet Sarepta has proven it can navigate FDA scrutiny better than many peers. Manufacturing capacity and pricing will determine the long-term margin profile. If efficacy data continues to strengthen, Sarepta could dominate one of the most meaningful rare-disease markets. The volatility will be brutal, but the upside is equally large.

Pitch Summary:
Baker Hughes is a diversified energy technology and equipment company. Shares declined on concerns about what the recent downturn in oil prices would mean for global upstream activity going forward. Despite this, Baker Hughes continues to see healthy order trends within its Industrial & Energy Technology segment, as the company is experiencing a notable uptick in demand for its power-generation solutions. The company also remains well-positioned to capitalize on the continued buildout of liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure across the globe.

BSD Analysis:
Baker Hughes is benefiting from a multi-year upcycle in LNG, drilling technology, and industrial energy services. Its portfolio is more balanced than the traditional oilfield services model, giving it exposure to both fossil and low-carbon solutions. Global LNG capacity expansion is a massive tailwind that feeds directly into Baker Hughes’ equipment and services pipeline. Margins are expanding as supply-chain issues ease and higher-spec equipment becomes a larger revenue mix. The company is also leaning into digital and emissions-reduction tools, which positions it well for long-term transition spending. Cyclicality remains a risk, but Baker Hughes’ diversification reduces the amplitude. The stock fits nicely into the “practical transition” theme — not ESG hype, but real infrastructure.

Pitch Summary:
Vistra is an integrated electricity and power generation company. As a result of increasing forecasts for future power demand growth, largely brought on by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, the company’s shares have continued to climb on investors’ expectations for future power prices. A tailwind for the stock has been Vistra’s potential to announce future power purchase agreements (PPAs) with large technology companies to satisfy the outsized power requirements of their artificial intelligence endeavors.

BSD Analysis:
Vistra is a stealth winner of the U.S. energy transition, combining legacy power assets with a rapidly expanding fleet of battery storage and renewables. The company benefits from tightening reserve margins in key markets like Texas, where its generation assets become extremely valuable during peak demand. Its energy trading and optimization capabilities are a legitimate competitive advantage, allowing Vistra to monetize volatility better than peers. The company’s balance sheet has strengthened, giving it room for aggressive buybacks. Storage deployments position Vistra as a major beneficiary of grid modernization, especially as renewables penetration rises. The market still treats it like a basic utility, but Vistra’s asset mix has far more upside optionality. This is one of the more interesting hybrid power stories in the sector.

Pitch Summary:
Cloudflare provides software and services to keep internet traffic safe and secure. Investors have responded positively to the company’s continued business growth, driven by the adoption of newer, software-based tools that help enterprises secure their networks more effectively than outdated legacy hardware solutions. In addition, we believe Cloudflare’s emerging AI capabilities show strong potential and could serve as a meaningful growth catalyst heading into 2026.

BSD Analysis:
Cloudflare sits at the crossroads of security, networking, and edge compute — and it’s executing a land-grab strategy with enviable speed. Its global edge network gives it distribution and performance advantages that incumbents struggle to replicate. The product roadmap expands every quarter, turning Cloudflare into a platform rather than a point solution. While enterprise sales maturity has lagged, recent improvements show the company is getting more serious about large-deal execution. The AI wave only strengthens Cloudflare’s position because models and apps need low-latency, secure, distributed compute. Valuation is always the sticking point, but Cloudflare has one of the most ambitious and credible long-term platform stories in the market. If it continues to move upmarket, the operating leverage could be significant.

Pitch Summary:
Royal Caribbean Cruises operates a fleet of vacation cruise ships. The stock performed well as demand for cruising remained robust. Quarterly results outpaced expectations and guidance was lifted. Royal Caribbean is benefitting from enhancements to its cruise offerings since the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, with more moderate price increases than other travel options.

BSD Analysis:
Royal Caribbean has emerged from the pandemic as the strongest operator in the cruise industry with a fleet and pricing power its peers can’t match. Pent-up leisure demand and a structurally healthier customer base have allowed it to push pricing without killing volume. Newer ships are far more profitable, and Royal’s pipeline is tailored to premium experiences that command higher ticket and onboard spend. Debt levels are elevated, but cash flow recovery has been faster than most expected. The company benefits from a global shift toward “experience-first” travel, which cruises conveniently deliver at predictable cost to consumers. Margins are improving as occupancy normalizes and fuel efficiency increases across the fleet. The stock still trades with macro fear, but the fundamentals look more like a growth leisure business than a distressed travel play.

Pitch Summary:
Axon Enterprise is a market-leading provider of next-generation law enforcement and security technology solutions. The company continues to post strong quarterly results, as it has achieved ongoing success with innovative new products that have garnered significant attention among both customers and investors. Axon remains intensely focused on the development of innovative solutions to address all aspects of law enforcement and has made significant strides in the emerging areas of drones and AI-enabled solutions. In addition, the company continues to expand its offerings outside of its traditional law enforcement area, and it has recently highlighted the potential opportunities that could lie ahead in these new markets.

BSD Analysis:
Axon is one of the clearest long-duration compounders in public markets, building a vertically integrated ecosystem around public safety technology. The Taser franchise remains a cash machine, but the real upside is from cloud software like Evidence.com and real-time operations platforms. Governments move slowly, yet once they adopt Axon’s system, they rarely switch — the switching costs are enormous. The company continues to innovate well ahead of regulation, shaping policy rather than reacting to it. International expansion is gaining traction as more countries modernize policing infrastructure. The recurring revenue base grows larger every year, giving Axon a margin profile closer to a SaaS company than a hardware vendor. Investors still underestimate how big this platform can get.

Pitch Summary:
Palantir Technologies, a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) software and services to governmental organizations, reported robust results and provided a strong outlook, as both the U.S. military and NATO purchased large contracts. Palantir also has had success penetrating non-military agencies of the U.S. government, as well as the commercial (corporate) side of the market with AI use cases that deliver quantifiable added value through its bootcamp product demonstrations.

BSD Analysis:
Palantir is finally transitioning from a controversial government contractor into a legitimate enterprise software platform with real operating leverage. Its AI-enabled Foundry and Gotham systems solve messy, high-stakes data problems that most companies cannot tackle alone. Government contracts remain the backbone, but the commercial business is accelerating as enterprises realize AI isn’t useful without clean, orchestrated data — Palantir’s specialty. The company’s margin profile is expanding as deployments become more modular and repeatable. Critics focus on valuation, but Palantir’s category positioning is rare: it sells mission-critical software at the exact moment AI spending curves are steepening. The sales motion is maturing quickly, aided by AI bootcamps that compress sales cycles. If Palantir keeps proving it can scale commercially, the stock will stop trading like a cult name and start trading like an AI infrastructure winner.

Pitch Summary:
Eaton Corp. responded favorably to multiple data points supporting strong investment in AI infrastructure. This data offset fears that had set in since late last year around capital spending cuts and project pushouts. Recall that the company is a leading provider of key electrical components and systems that are required to power AI computing.

BSD Analysis:
Eaton is quietly becoming one of the best electrification plays globally, benefiting from structural upgrades in power infrastructure, data centers, and industrial automation. Its portfolio is perfectly aligned with the megatrend of grid modernization, which governments and corporations can no longer delay. Eaton’s disciplined portfolio reshaping has pushed it into higher-margin, faster-growing electrical segments where it enjoys strong pricing power. Data center demand — especially AI-related — is accelerating transformer and power-distribution orders. Supply-chain improvements are boosting margins, and backlog visibility extends well into future quarters. The business is cyclical at the edges, but the electrification trend gives it a secular tailwind. Eaton increasingly resembles a long-term industrial compounder rather than a traditional cyclical.

Pitch Summary:
One such holding is ContextLogic, Inc. ContextLogic is what remains of the former Wish.com, a former e-commerce highflyer that crashed and was sold for scraps. Following the sale of its operating subsidiary, ContextLogic has a large pot of cash, minimal liabilities, and enormous net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs), which can be used to offset future taxable income. ContextLogic has partnered with large global alternative investment firm BC Partners to find potential acquisitions. BC has invested $75 million in convertible preferred shares of a ContextLogic subsidiary and has the right to invest another $75 million on the same terms. Assuming BC exercises its rights, ContextLogic has just over $6.50 per share in cash with which to pursue an acquisition. If ContextLogic can find the right acquisition and execute well, its tax assets alone could be worth >100% of its current market capitalization. This is not our first time investing in an “NOL shell.” We have also tracked a good number of NOL shells over the years and we have seen what does and does not result in good outcomes. To succeed with an NOL monetization strategy, the NOL shell must have the following: 1. Long-lived NOLs, and the more the better. If most of a company’s NOLs expire in just a few years, the company is incentivized to make any deal it can, not the right deal for shareholders. ContextLogic has $2 billion of federal NOLs that do not expire. 2. Adequate cash and a low burn rate. Under-capitalized NOL shells risk blowing through their cash before identifying an acquisition. ContextLogic currently has $222 million in cash on hand and a very low burn rate. Overhead costs are mostly offset by interest income. 3. Dealflow. Doing a good acquisition is hard, and it is harder without access to opportunities. ContextLogic’s partnership with BC Partners ensure that CEO Rishi Bajaj will get a lot of “looks” at potential acquisition targets. We were able to buy a reasonable number of ContextLogic shares from forced sellers following the company’s delisting from the NASDAQ. Even now, with shares rebounding, buyers are paying very little for the tax assets. Our downside is well-protected by the company’s balance sheet cash. If ContextLogic is unable to complete an acquisition on reasonable timeline, the company will liquidate.

BSD Analysis:
WISH is no longer an e-commerce platform — it’s a corporate shell with massive tax assets and strategic-transaction optionality. The operating business is irrelevant; the value lies in the NOLs and the possibility of a reverse merger or asset monetization. Traders hate it, value vultures love it, and the market is ignoring the upside potential from a clean strategic pivot. This is a special-situations bet, not a retail comeback.