The Research Dropped. So Did the Stocks.
Three activist reports hit the tape this week, and the market listened. From a 54% weekly wipeout in VCX to a decade of broken promises at WATT, it's all inside.
Weekly Wrap Up: Sunday, March 29, 2026
The Muddy Waters vs. SoFi feud continued to dominate short selling headlines this week. After Carson Block's firm published a 28-page report on March 17 alleging that SoFi is a "financial engineering treadmill" with an inflated EBITDA figure, SoFi pushed back hard, threatened legal action, and CEO Anthony Noto bought $500,000 worth of the company's own stock on the open market as a very public show of confidence. Block appeared on CNBC this Monday to hold his ground, adding an AI risk angle: he argued that SoFi's core borrower demographic faces meaningful displacement from AI-driven job losses, which would put pressure on the entire credit model. It is the kind of back-and-forth that makes activist short selling worth following. On top of all that, three fresh reports landed this week. Fugazi Research catalogued a decade of broken promises at wireless charging company Energous Corporation (WATT). Spruce Point Management turned its forensic accounting lens on agribusiness giant Bunge Global (BG). And Citron Research dropped a five-tweet thread Thursday morning that sent closed-end fund VCX into freefall, citing a 2,000% premium to net asset value and a sponsor with a recent SEC enforcement record.
Quick Hits on Reports Published This Week
- Fugazi Research targeted Energous Corporation (WATT) alleging a decade of commercial failure funded by serial equity dilution, with $408 million in accumulated deficit and executive pay that exceeds the company's own revenues. Stock closed the week down 23.0%.
- Spruce Point Management targeted Bunge Global SA (BG) alleging a hidden cumulative capital deficit of $1.2 billion, non-standard cash flow metrics that inflate reported performance, and segment reporting changes that obscure chronic underperformance in key markets. Stock closed the week up 3.7%.
- Citron Research targeted Fundrise Growth Tech Fund LLC (VCX) alleging an extreme 2,000%+ premium to net asset value, a sponsor with a documented SEC enforcement history for paid influencer marketing violations, and a structural lockup that will force 100,000 investors into the same exit window simultaneously in September 2026. Stock closed the week down 54.5%.
New Activist Reports
Fugazi Research Short Report on Energous Corporation
| Metric | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Close (Day Before) | $18.82 | — |
| Low (Report Date) | $15.80 | -16.0% |
| Close (Report Date) | $18.11 | -3.8% |
| Close (End of Week) | $14.50 | -23.0% |
Stock Price Impact
WATT dropped as low as $15.80 on the day of the report, a 16.0% intraday decline, before recovering to close at $18.11, down 3.8% from the prior session. The partial recovery on report day suggested some buyers stepped in, but that support did not hold. By the end of the week, shares had given back significantly more ground, closing at $14.50 for a weekly loss of 23.0%. The sustained selling pressure after the initial report day is notable: it suggests investors who looked past the intraday dip later reassessed the underlying allegations and continued to exit the position through week's end.
About The Company
Energous Corporation is a San Jose, California-based semiconductor and wireless technology company whose core product is WattUp, an RF-based wireless charging platform. The company was founded in 2012 and listed on NASDAQ, spending the following decade attempting to commercialize wireless power delivery for consumer electronics and industrial applications. CEO and CFO Mallorie Burak leads a four-member board. Despite receiving FCC certification for its technology, Energous has remained essentially pre-revenue, generating just ~$2.6 million across the first nine months of 2025 against ongoing cash burn. The company has relied heavily on at-the-market equity offerings, warrant exercises, and registered offerings to fund its operations.
Key Points from the Report
- The report alleges Energous has accumulated a $408 million deficit over more than a decade while generating approximately $290,000 per month in revenue against roughly $1.1 million per month in cash burn, a net margin of -319%. Capital has been raised through equity actions 21 times since 2019 alone.
- According to Fugazi, the combined CEO and CFO role held by Mallorie Burak eliminates the independent financial oversight layer that is particularly critical for a company dependent on continuous capital market transactions. Her prior role as CFO at Knightscope, which disclosed material weaknesses in internal controls and delivered a 99% loss to shareholders, is cited as a comparable pattern.
- The report alleges that in 2024 Burak's total compensation was $849,551 and former CEO Johnston's was $1,343,485, collectively exceeding the company's roughly $800,000 in annual revenue. Johnston's Q1 2024 severance alone totaled $1.563 million, representing 2,442% of quarterly revenue.
- According to Fugazi, competitor Powercast has shipped over 30 million units to more than 100 global customers over a comparable period. Energous, by contrast, counts just three paying customers responsible for 99% of its accounts receivable, and March 2023 warrant strike prices have reset from $8.00 down to $0.28 by June 2025.
Read the Full Report Summary →
Spruce Point Management Short Report on Bunge Global SA
| Metric | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Close (Day Before) | $124.09 | — |
| Low (Report Date) | $121.81 | -1.8% |
| Close (Report Date) | $125.40 | +1.1% |
| Close (End of Week) | $128.72 | +3.7% |
Stock Price Impact
BG dipped to $121.81 at its intraday low on report day, down 1.8% from the prior close, before reversing to finish the session at $125.40, up 1.1% on the day. The stock continued to grind higher through the week, closing Friday at $128.72 for a weekly gain of 3.7%. The muted and ultimately positive price response is not unusual for large-cap, well-covered companies targeted by forensic accounting reports: the thesis here rests on multi-year financial reconstruction and segment reporting concerns rather than a binary event catalyst, which tends to play out over a longer time horizon than a single trading week.
About The Company
Bunge Global SA is one of the world's largest agribusiness and food companies, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and listed on the NYSE. The company operates across oilseed processing, grain merchandising, sugar and bioenergy, and edible oils, with major operations concentrated in North and South America. Bunge completed its $10.6 billion acquisition of Viterra in 2024, significantly expanding its footprint in global grain origination and logistics. The acquisition was among the largest in agribusiness history and brought with it materially elevated debt levels. CEO Greg Heckman has led the company since 2019, presiding over a significant transformation of the portfolio and capital return strategy.
Key Points from the Report
- Spruce Point's forensic reconstruction of Bunge's cash flows from 1999 through 2025 identifies a cumulative capital deficit of -$1.2 billion before dividends and buybacks, with the $8.6 billion returned to shareholders over that period appearing to have been financed by debt rather than genuine free cash flow generation.
- The report alleges that Bunge's "Adjusted FFO" metric, a REIT-style term not used by any agribusiness peer, bifurcates capital expenditures in a manner that inflates reported "discretionary" cash flow by an estimated $2.2 billion. A non-standard mark-to-market timing adjustment has generated a $472 million cumulative benefit also absent from peer reporting.
- According to Spruce Point, new segment reporting eliminates separately disclosed Brazil and Argentina revenues, replacing them with Switzerland and Netherlands, jurisdictions the report characterizes as notoriously secretive tax havens. These Latin American markets are where Bunge has chronically underperformed for a decade.
- The report alleges that Deloitte issued a qualified audit opinion to Spanish subsidiary Bunge Iberica, and that Bunge's audit fees per employee ($688) exceed those of SEC-charged ADM ($451). Spruce Point estimates Viterra's 2025 revenue fell -16.7%, materially worse than ADM's -6.2% decline, against the 2023 proxy projections used to justify the acquisition price.
Read the Full Report Summary →
Citron Research Short Report on Fundrise Growth Tech Fund LLC
| Metric | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Close (Day Before) | $380.00 | — |
| Low (Report Date) | $182.01 | -52.1% |
| Close (Report Date) | $262.00 | -31.1% |
| Close (End of Week) | $173.00 | -54.5% |
Stock Price Impact
The VCX reaction was one of the more dramatic of the year. Citron published its five-tweet thread at 9:16 AM on Thursday morning, and the stock collapsed to an intraday low of $182.01 within hours, a 52.1% drop from the prior close of $380.00. A partial bounce brought the day-of close to $262.00, still a -31.1% session loss. Selling continued through Friday, with VCX closing the week at $173.00, down 54.5% from the pre-report close. Notably, Citron's thesis was delivered entirely via Twitter rather than a formal research document, which makes the magnitude of the market reaction all the more striking. The thread accumulated 97,300 views and the market moved decisively.
About The Company
Fundrise Growth Tech Fund LLC (VCX) is a closed-end fund listed on the NYSE and sponsored by Fundrise Advisors, the registered investment adviser behind the Fundrise real estate crowdfunding platform. The fund gives retail investors exposure to a portfolio of private technology companies including Anthropic and SpaceX, which are otherwise inaccessible to non-accredited investors. VCX has been trading at a substantial premium to its underlying net asset value since launch, a premium that reached above $400 per share against an NAV of approximately $19 per share at the time of Citron's report. An investor lockup restricts the approximately 100,000 current holders from exiting until September 2026.
Key Points from the Report
- According to Citron, VCX trades at more than 2,000% above its net asset value, with the market price exceeding $400 against an NAV of approximately $19 per share. The report states there is no fundamental justification for the spread, and that premium compression rather than NAV erosion is the primary mechanism of loss for holders.
- The report alleges that Fundrise Advisors, the fund's sponsor, was charged by the SEC in August 2023 for willfully violating paid solicitation disclosure rules, having paid more than 200 influencers and publishers $8 million over five years to promote its products without required investor disclosures. The firm settled for $250,000. Citron notes the SEC's own characterization of the conduct as willful.
- Citron alleges that the VCX prospectus discloses "Other Expenses: Marketing" of 0.42% charged directly to investors, representing approximately $3 million annually. The report formally calls on the SEC Division of Enforcement to investigate who is receiving those payments and whether the disclosures are adequate, particularly given the sponsor's prior enforcement history.
- The report cites Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ) as a direct structural precedent: DXYZ launched in March 2024 at a 1,400%+ premium over a $5 NAV, and the premium compressed to approximately 35% even as the underlying portfolio grew to ~$20. According to Citron, VCX's 100,000 investors face a simultaneous exit window when the lockup expires in September 2026, with no staggering mechanism to absorb the supply.
Read the Full Report Summary →
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Activ8 Newswire
Muddy Waters' Carson Block makes the case for his SoFi short on CNBC — Block appeared on Squawk Box to explain his firm's thesis that SoFi is a "financial engineering treadmill," adding a new AI risk dimension: he argued the company's core high-earning borrower base faces meaningful displacement from artificial intelligence-driven job losses. Source: CNBC
SoFi shrugs off Muddy Waters — and signals legal action — Despite the severity of the Muddy Waters allegations, which include claims of inflated EBITDA and off-balance-sheet structures, SoFi's stock has largely held up since the report's publication, with the company calling the research "factually inaccurate" and telling Fortune it is contemplating defamation litigation against Block's firm. Source: Fortune
UK regulator plans to make short sellers anonymous — The Financial Conduct Authority is consulting on a rule change that would replace the current regime of publicly disclosing individual short positions with aggregate, anonymized figures published at the issuer level, moving the UK closer to the model used in the United States. The new rules are expected to take effect in the second half of 2026. Source: Bloomberg
The information presented in this newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. All allegations cited are drawn from third-party short seller reports and have not been independently verified by Activ8Insights. Companies named may dispute these allegations. Short sellers hold financial positions that benefit from declines in the securities they cover. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.
