'The ultimate stock pickers are activists', says 13D's Kenneth Squire after Shake Shack's stock pops

shares of Shake Shack touching a 52-week high today after report from The Wall Street Journal said that activist investor engaged Capital has a more than six percent stake in the company is pushing for three board seats joining us now is Ken Squire founder and president of 13d monitor Ken great to have you on the show let's start with Shake Shack although it hasn't been the only name even in recent days where we're getting reports of activists investor pressure have we seen a market increase to

start the year uh yeah we certainly have seen the market increase to start the year um uh you know early on with Disney and Salesforce and Bath and Body Works uh with third point and now we see you know uh Shake Shack and Goodyear last week um you know markets rotated from growth to Value which is great for activism um it's a stock Pickers market and I think the ultimate stock Pickers are activists who not only find the best value funds but are themselves the the the uh the the Catalyst to close

those valuation gaps are there certain sectors or industries that are more ripe for this type of activity right now you know it it varies um activists really care about two things they like finding undervalued companies where they think they could be the the Catalyst to close the valuation Gap but certain activists have certain sectors they're better at um you allow you see Elliott and technology for instance um starboard is great with um with semiconductors um trying with consumer goods and se

rvices so it's it's it's there's not one industry that all activists focus on but they each have their their special teams Ken it seems like it might be dangerous to chase activists in this environment too right because uh you never know how far down things might go or um when the when the ties might change well I mean you know active some activist campaigns are often J curves you're right by by definition a lot of times they're going into companies that need need changes and need improvements a

nd it could go down further before it goes up but um they're long-term investors they come in with the plan and uh I I think it's you know I I think it's more dangerous to chase investors that don't have a plan and aren't going to be the the their their own their own Catalyst to to implement that plan does it matter Ken whether activists investors are successful or not well it for stock to see returns I should say um you you know if you want to if you want to maximize shareholder value if you kn

ow it's it's activists come in and they do all the work and they create value for all the shareholders so it it matters to shareholders that are sitting in stocks that are that are that are underperforming um and I have a management team that's not not that focused they certainly love to see activists come in and and hold management accountable