David Einhorn
Transcript: What David Einhorn told his shareholders about Apple
May 7, 2013: 11:26 AM ETThe hedge-fund billionaire who sued Apple in February was buying shares again in March.
Einhorn at the World Series of Poker. He finished 18th.
FORTUNE -- Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, the poker-playing hedge fund manager who made his billions shorting Lehman Bros. and Allied Capital, never really fell out of love with Apple (AAPL). He sued the company last February not because he had lost faith, but because he wanted Apple management to increase the value of his million or so shares.
He was back in the headlines last week, praising Apple's stock repurchase plan, and again on Tuesday, reporting to his shareholders on Greenlight's (GLRE) performance last quarter. Here's, according to an edited Seeking Alpha transcript, is what he had to say to them about Apple:
"Our biggest loss in the first quarter came from Apple, which declined about 17%. The biggest problems for our Apple investment are disappointing earnings and a diminished forecast. Our thesis remains that Apple has a terrific operating platform and that its loyal, sticky and growing customer base will make repeated purchases of a growing portfolio of Apple products.
"Apple took a major step forward by issuing debt and announcing it will return $100 billion to shareholders over the next three years. This is a vastly more shareholder friendly capital allocation policy, than where Apple stood a few months ago. We've added to our Apple position. Now, we just wait for the release of Apple's next blockbuster product."
-
The Einhorn effect: Why it didn't work with Apple
David Einhorn's battle with Tim Cook is on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek
FORTUNE -- Hedge fund billionaire David Einhorn is best known for, in Bloomberg TV anchor Stephanie Ruhle's infelicitous phrase, the "activity in his shorts."
That goes a long way to explaining why the man who famously torpedoed Allied Capital and Lehman Bros. got nowhere last May when he told investors tweeting his every call at the annual Ira MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 21, 2013 10:58 AM ET -
Yes, Jarrod, Apple does have $137.1 billion in liquid assets
Another day, another Apple-bashing headline on Seeking Alpha
FORTUNE -- When you write about Apple's (AAPL) finances for a living, your fingers can get tired of typing -- and your readers can get tired of reading -- "cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities" every time you want to refer to the company's hoard of liquid assets.
I try to be precise, but from time to time I spare my fingers -- and MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 5, 2013 8:02 AM ET -
Warren Buffett: If he were Tim Cook, he'd be buying Apple
"If you could buy dollar bills for 80 cents, it's a very good thing to do."
FORTUNE -- In a three-hour appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box Monday morning, Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA) Warren Buffett addressed two burning issues in the minds of Apple (AAPL) investors: Apple's depressed stock price and what to do with the $137 billion in cash burning a hole in David Einhorn's pocket.
On the pressure to increase the dividend:
"I don't own MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 4, 2013 8:35 AM ET -
What not to expect at Apple's shareholders meeting today
Will Tim Cook say anything newsworthy or material? Don't hold your breath.
FORTUNE -- Given the advance buildup -- a headline-grabbing billionaire, a high-profile proxy fight, a hedge-fund lawsuit, a federal judge's preliminary injunction and those cutesy iPrefs -- Apple's (AAPL) annual shareholders meeting today is likely to disappoint.
For one thing, the proposition that created all the fuss -- a change in the company's articles of incorporation that would have prohibited the issuance MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 26, 2013 11:08 AM ET -
Why Charlie Wolf lowered his Apple price target to $710
The difference between Wolf and Wall Street may be that he values Apple's cash holdings
FORTUNE -- There's something about Charlie Wolf's approach to Apple (AAPL) that I find charmingly old school -- perhaps because he's been in the business even longer (14 years at First Boston and 15 at Needham & Co.) than I have.
Most analysts seem to change their mind about Apple's prospects every time the wind shifts; Baird Equity's MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 25, 2013 12:43 PM ET -
Hedge fund wins suit Apple's CEO called a 'silly sideshow'
But David Einhorn is no closer to getting the preferred shares he's been lobbying for
FORTUNE -- Three days after he heard the case, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan ruled against Apple (AAPL) and for David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital in a dispute that generated a lot of heat but shed no light on the issue Apple investors care most about: What the company plans to do with the $137 billion in MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 22, 2013 6:00 PM ET -
Analyst meets with Apple CFO; expects 6% cash return-update
Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty thinks Apple should borrow to pay its shareholders
FORTUNE -- While Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn was lobbying shareholders Thursday to support his perpetual preferred stock idea (see Would you buy an iPref from this man?), Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty has been meeting with the Apple (AAPL) executive who rejected Einhorn's proposal last September: Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer.
In a note to clients Friday, Huberty reports that she MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 22, 2013 6:47 AM ET -
Hedge fund suit against Apple hangs on 'irreparable harm'
Judge agrees that Apple's proxy probably broke SEC rules, but hesitates to intercede
FORTUNE -- It looks like billionaire hedge-fund manager David Einhorn won half his battle with Apple (AAPL) in a New York federal court Tuesday.
Lawyers for Greenlight Capital, Einhorn's firm, had argued that putting into one proposition three separate items -- two of which Einhorn supported and one (which barred Apple's board from issuing preferred shares without a shareholder MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 19, 2013 6:26 PM ET -
Apple's cash give-back plans: What the analysts are saying
The Street is taking bets on how many billions might be distributed to the shareholders
FORTUNE -- In the wake of the David Einhorn's legal challenge and Apple's (AAPL) statement in response, a flurry of analysts' notes:
Bill Shope, Goldman Sachs: The capital allocation theme heats up. "While we do not take a view on the basis of the legal proceeding, we believe this latest example of shareholder activism serves to highlight Apple's MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 8, 2013 10:34 AM ET
