5 long and short stock picks from Sohn London

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the Sohn Hearts and Minds Conference in Sydney, off the back of which I wrote the wire below. 

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Last year's Sohn picks returned 38%. Here are the 9 new ideas from this year's conference

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Over the weekend, it was the UK's turn to host at Sohn London. The conference delivered a mix of hard-edged short ideas and high-conviction long pitches across technology, med-tech, industrials, fintech and real estate. 

Below is a full breakdown of some of the key calls. 

KNORR-BREMSE (ETR: KBX) — Long Call by Igor Kryca (Lombardi Capital)

Lombardi Capital’s Igor Kryca pitched Knorr-Bremse as a top long idea. The German engineering group is, in his view, the undisputed leader in passenger-rail braking systems, with around half of the world’s trains equipped with its technology.

Kryca pointed to a major operational transformation under CEO Marc Llistosella and the company’s positioning as a direct beneficiary of Germany’s upcoming €100 billion rail-infrastructure spend. He believes the stock has potential to double from current levels.

WISE (LON: WISE) — Long Call by Markus Bihler (Builders Union)

Builders Union’s Markus Bihler nominated Wise as one of the most compelling fintech opportunities in the U.K. He cited industry-leading customer satisfaction, strong profitability, and a long runway for international expansion. According to Bihler, Wise’s operational discipline places it among the few fintechs capable of sustained compound growth.

IRON MOUNTAIN (NYSE: IRM) — Short Call by Daniel Yu & Cyrus de Weck (Gotham City Research / General Industrial Partners)

Gotham City Research and General Industrial Partners took aim at Iron Mountain, the US REIT best known for storing corporate documents. Daniel Yu and Cyrus de Weck argued the legacy paper-storage segment is in terminal decline - “a melting ice cube,” as they described it - forcing the business into a highly leveraged pivot toward data centres.

They said Iron Mountain has spent around $6 billion building out data-centre capacity, funded largely through debt, while expanding EBITDA margins in a way they believe is unsustainable. Despite its strong share-price performance, the pair estimate up to 80% downside.

BONESUPPORT (STO: BONEX) — Short Call by Mattias Thärn (Brummer & Partners)

Mattias Thärn from Brummer & Partners laid out a short thesis on Bonesupport, the Swedish med-tech company behind synthetic bone-filling products. He criticised the company for relying on selectively presented clinical data and questioned its communication practices since listing.

Thärn also doubted the commercial potential of its planned expansion into trauma and spine treatments.

LIFE360 (ASX: 360 / NASDAQ: LIF) — Short Call by Priya Kodeeswaran (Katamaran Capital)

Katamaran Capital’s Priya Kodeeswaran argued that Life360 “monetises parental anxiety” but faces rising competition from free location-tracking services embedded in Apple and Google ecosystems.

He highlighted the company’s heavy reliance on U.S. paid subscribers and low conversion rates abroad, forecasting up to 40% share-price downside.