The Billionaire Move Nobody Saw Coming: Why Starboard Value Abandoned CRM For These 2 Stocks
Jeff Smith exited CRM after activist pressure delivered a $25 billion buyback and strong EPS beats, then pivoted into distressed LW and KMX. Riot Platforms surged 90% year to date anchored by a $636 million AMD lease, while TripAdvisor quietly logged $3.3 million in activism cos
Jeff Smith exited CRM after activist pressure delivered a $25 billion buyback and strong EPS beats, then pivoted into distressed LW and KMX.
Riot Platforms surged 90% year to date anchored by a $636 million AMD lease, while TripAdvisor quietly logged $3.3 million in activism costs.
Smith's pattern targets distressed stocks with cost-cutting catalysts. KMX has already rallied 26% as new CEO Keith Barr raised SG&A savings to $200 million.
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Starboard Value, the activist hedge fund led by Jeff Smith, fully exited its positions in Salesforce ( NYSE:CRM ) and Autodesk ( NASDAQ:ADSK ) during the first quarter of 2026, disclosed in a 13F filed May 15, 2026. In their place, Smith opened brand-new long positions in Lamb Weston ( NYSE:LW ) and CarMax ( NYSE:KMX ) , and added to existing stakes in Riot Platforms and TripAdvisor.
Starboard's Salesforce campaign began in late 2022 and pushed Marc Benioff toward margin expansion and discipline. Three years later, the thesis cashed in. Salesforce just posted Q1 FY27 EPS of $3.88 versus a $3.13 consensus, funded a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase, and cut diluted share count to 871 million from 970 million. The activist work was effectively done. CRM is now down around 35% year to date, suggesting Smith trimmed before the broader software valuation reset accelerated.
The rotation is what's striking. Smith abandoned two enterprise-software names and pivoted into frozen french fries and used cars, two of the more distressed corners of the consumer economy.
Lamb Weston is the classic Starboard setup. The stock is down nearly 46% over five years, trades at a forward P/E of 13 and is mid-restructuring. The "Focus to Win" plan targets more than $250 million of savings by fiscal year-end 2028. The company posted Q3 FY26 adjusted EPS of 72 cents versus the 61-cent consensus — a third straight beat — and raised FY26 net sales guidance to $6.45 billion to $6.55 billion. Operational momentum is real, but profitability remains compressed: GAAP net income fell 63% year over year on restructuring charges and a raw potato write-off.
