In my original report on AuthID, I treated the work done by short sellers with respect. I noted that they had been right on the stock for several years, and explained where my current view differed from theirs. I invited them to contact me if they had any issues with my report, or thought I explained their position inaccurately. In doing so, I hoped to engage in constructive discussion. At Deep Knowledge Investing, we believe all ideas should be subject to discussion and debate, and we particularly try to understand contrary opinions.
In an effort to keep things civil, I purposely never mentioned the short sellers by name. They have not given DKI the same courtesy, and have resorted to alley-worthy attacks on my integrity, and by extension, that of DKI–for the second time. Given that this is all already on Twitter/X, there’s no point in trying to protect them any longer. The firm that has been shorting the stock is called White Diamond @whiteresearch, and the person who has been defaming multiple people is Adam Gefvert.
I believe that among Adam’s fundamental errors is his reiteration of the same position on the company, which appears to depend on a projection of prior management’s inadequacies onto the new management team. Adam calls me a “shill” and even suggests I have insider information on the stock. Neither of those accusations are true. I have not been paid to write the $AUID report; my report reflects my opinion based on my extensive research. I want to be emphatic: I have not been and am not in possession of any material non-public (insider) information.
Notably, Adam Gefvert has been investigated in conjunction with SEC inquiries regarding insider trading and market manipulation. I have no idea if he engaged in any wrongdoing, but his response to me makes me wonder if his accusations are projecting onto me and others what he may have done in the past. He has directed his baseless accusations about me to the SEC and the DOJ at @secgov @dojphofficial and @thejusticedept . Given his history, I’m sure he has their phone numbers, and am surprised he didn’t contact them directly. Maybe he did. I would welcome any discussion that regulators might want to have with me.
Firms like White Diamond look for companies with a small float, have their subscribers short the stock, and then issue a damning report that lowers the stock price. By posting accusations, and acting as a group, they can knock the stock price down and profit. They didn’t invent this tactic– but they seem to be deploying it energetically.
Beyond all of that, in the same post, Adam accuses me of being both wrong about the company and of possessing insider information. Which is it? If he really believed I had insider information suggesting imminent pricing upside in the stock, wouldn’t he cover his short position now instead of adding to it? If he thinks I have inside information that has told me what comes next, and that I’m positive on the stock, why is he still short? His insistence that I’m wrong BUT ALSO that I have material non-public information doesn’t begin to hang together. On the contrary, his two positions are glaringly inconsistent.
It’s this kind of scattered thinking, lack of research, and public drama that we avoid at DKI. Everything in my report is tied to public comments the company has made and to the dozens of research calls I’ve made in the biometric security industry. Once again, what will make one of us right and the other wrong will be future contract announcements and effective execution by the $AUID management team. Those may or may not materialize. It’s my opinion—and bet—that they will. In any event, management projections are publicly available. Readers can and should gauge these themselves, or, better yet, do so with the assistance of their investment advisors.
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