In this article we present the list of top 10 stocks billionaire David Einhorn just added to his portfolio. You can skip our comprehensive analysis of Einhorn’s history, investment philosophy, and hedge fund performance and go directly to Top 5 Stocks Billionaire David Einhorn Just Added to His Portfolio.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) are among the major new additions to the 13F portfolio of billionaire activist investor David Einhorn during the fourth quarter of 2021.
David Einhorn founded Greenlight Capital in 1996 when he was just 27 years old and quickly became one of the darlings of the hedge fund world. Over the following 18 years, Einhorn’s activist fund would post annualized returns of nearly 20%, making it one of the most successful in the world.
Einhorn has hit a very rough patch in recent years however, a stretch which has been characterized by his failed short bets against growth titans like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), which he incorrectly (thus far at least) perceived as giant bubbles just waiting to be burst.
Greenlight lost 34% between 2015 and late-2020, which sent investors fleeing. As of September 2021, Greenlight had just $1.1 billion in assets under management, down from over $12 billion in 2015. On the positive side, Greenlight is coming off one of its best quarters in several years, returning 18.6% in Q4 to push its 2021 returns to 11.9%.
Greenlight added 12 new positions to its 13F portfolio during Q4, while selling off 13 former holdings. Given the fund’s strong performance during the quarter, it’s not surprising the value of its 13F portfolio jumped to $1.75 billion, up from $1.49 billion a quarter earlier. Greenlight remained most heavily invested in the materials sector, which has been its top sector of choice for two years running.
The stocks added to Greenlight’s portfolio during Q4 are compelling in that Einhorn likely views them as recession-proof. In the fund’s fourth quarter investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here, Einhorn makes the case that ongoing inflation will eventually lead to a recession, and that he’s begun to position his fund for just such a scenario.
Our Methodology
We took a look at the latest 13F filing from Greenlight Capital to uncover the fund’s newest holdings. They have been ranked in order of the value of Greenlight’s new position, from least to most. We follow hedge funds like Greenlight Capital because Insider Monkey’s research has uncovered that their consensus stock picks can deliver outstanding returns.
All hedge fund data is based on the exclusive group of 900+ funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13Fs for the Q4 2021 reporting period. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top 10 stocks David Einhorn was buying in Q4.
Top 10 Stocks Billionaire David Einhorn Just Added to His Portfolio
10. Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA)
Value of Greenlight Capital‘s 13F Position: $133,000
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 14
Einhorn, who’s been a notable Tesla bear for several years, recently found an electric vehicle maker that’s more to his liking, Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA). Greenlight Capital bought 15,070 PTRA shares during Q4, taking a small stake in the company.
Numerous other hedge funds decided to bail on Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA) during Q4, with the stock mired in a 59% slide over the last year. 39% of Proterra’s former hedge fund shareholders sold off their holdings in the company during the quarter.
Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA) appears poised to benefit from the latest infrastructure bill, which has earmarked $5 billion towards buying low- or zero-emission buses. Proterra is one of the industry leaders in the EV bus space, delivering 208 electric buses in 2021 which helped the firm pull in $243 million in revenue. While there’s potentially a big opportunity ahead of it, the company’s currently modest growth rates don’t appear to be exciting investors all that much. Proterra grew revenue by just 23% year-over-year in 2021, though new bus orders grew by 45%.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) may be the biggest names added to Einhorn’s portfolio in Q4, but Proterra is certainly one to watch for in the coming years.
9. 23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ME)
Value of Greenlight Capital‘s 13F Position: $653,000
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 13
Einhorn also took a stake in 23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ME) during Q4, another stock that’s experienced a hedge fund flight in recent quarters. Greenlight was one of just 13 hedge funds long ME on December 31, half the amount that were long the genetic testing company on June 30.
23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ME) rode the early wave of interest in genetic testing and ancestry checking to impressive results and a hefty valuation, but the shine has begun to wear off the company as growth in the space has faltered and as it continues to lose money.
23andMe Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ME) does have some intriguing prospects in the drug development space however. With its genetic database of more than 12 million people, nearly 10 million of which have opted into allowing the company to use their genomic information for drug research and commercialization opportunities, 23andMe could soon transition into more of a biotech company than a diagnostics one.
8. Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA)
Value of Greenlight Capital‘s 13F Position: $1.78 million
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 7
Greenlight Capital was one of just seven hedge funds long Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) on December 31, building a new stake of 40,620 shares during Q4. Hedge fund ownership of SAVA has dropped by 46% over the past two quarters.
One of the 5 most shorted stocks right now, Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) shares have been obliterated since the middle of 2021, losing 58% of their value. The biotech company has certainly provided a lot of fodder for short sellers, which had over 37% of the company’s shares shorted as of the middle of February.
Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) has been accused of manipulating the trial data for its study of Alzheimer’s drug Simufilam, though it should also be noted that the petition was launched by a group representing said short sellers. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily wrong, but there is additional financial motivation behind the petition.
Cassava currently has two ongoing Phase 3 studies for Simufilam following the drug’s impressive Phase 2 results, which included improvements to some biomarkers that have never been achieved before by any Alzheimer’s drug.
7. Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI)
Value of Greenlight Capital‘s 13F Position: $5.79 million
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 26
Greenlight Capital bought 118,218 shares of Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI) during Q4, building a stake that was valued at just under $5.8 million as of December 31. There was a 30% jump in hedge fund ownership of CIVI during the quarter.
Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI) pulled in $163.7 million in net income during Q4, which accounted for the vast majority of its 2021 net income of $178.92 million. While the Colorado-based oil-and-gas producer grew its net income by over $75 million year-over-year, that net income nonetheless represented a slight decline on a per basic common share basis, falling to $4.82 from $4.98.
Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI) grew its daily average sales volume on a crude oil equivalent to 116,229 barrels during the fourth quarter, a 364% year-over-year surge. The company also continued to improve its product mix away from crude oil and towards natural gas, with natural gas and NGLs each rising by six percentage points to 32% and 26% of product mix respectively during Q4, while crude oil fell by 12 percentage points to 42%.
6. Talis Biomedical Corporation (NASDAQ:TLIS)
Value of Greenlight Capital‘s 13F Position: $6.29 million
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 7
Talis Biomedical Corp (NASDAQ:TLIS) is another biotech company that was added to the 13F portfolio of David Einhorn during Q4. Two Sigma Advisors and Tudor Investment Corp also built new stakes in TLIS during the quarter, raising the number of hedge fund shareholders to seven from just four.
Talis Biomedical Corp (NASDAQ:TLIS) is in the process of developing several different assays, or substance analysis tests, that will be capable of uncovering the specific composition details of everything from Covid-19 variants to chlamydia and gonorrhea bacteria. While the company is confident in its the quality of its assays, it’s faced various challenges on the manufacturing side which have delayed its ability to commercialize its assays.
Talis Biomedical Corp (NASDAQ:TLIS) recently shed 25% of its workforce and instituted other cost reduction initiatives to preserve its cash runway through 2024 as it continues to work through and scale up its manufacturing processes.
In the following half of the list, we’ll take a look at David Einhorn’s Q4 purchases of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA).
Click to continue reading and see the Top 5 Stocks Billionaire David Einhorn Just Added to His Portfolio.
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Disclosure: None. Top 10 Stocks Billionaire David Einhorn Just Added to His Portfolio is originally published at Insider Monkey.
