David Einhorn says he likes companies with big buybacks in this bear market, Greenlight unveils a Twitter bet

Published Mon, Aug 1 20222:48 PM EDT

Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, coming off his best quarter ever, revealed how he managed to beat the market during its recent turmoil and unveiled a fresh bet on Twitter . His hedge fund returned 8.4% in the second quarter of 2022, bringing its first-half performance to 13.2%. The relative quarterly performance to the S & P 500 marked Einhorn's best ever in his firm's history. The star manager attributed his stellar year to a rotation to value stocks and his preference for companies with sizable buyback programs in place. "We aren't relying on other active investors to buy the stocks that we own, so we instead are choosing to emphasize investing in companies that appreciate this dynamic and are creating value both through their operations and through buying back their own stock at very low prices," Einhorn said in an investor letter on Monday. Atlas Air Worldwide and Green Brick Partners were some of the stocks with big repurchases Einhorn had. Einhorn said he still thinks we are in a bear market as the Federal Reserve tries to bring down surging inflation by aggressive rate hikes. The manager said his firm has lowered its gross long exposure to 86% at the end of the second quarter from 127% from the start of the year. "It is a bear market and we are building some dry powder for future opportunities," Einhorn said. However, one purchase during the quarter stood out to investors. Einhorn took a long position in Twitter, paying an average $37.24 for the stock, as the social media company sued to force Elon Musk to buy the company after the billionaire reversed course to try to walk away from the deal. "At this price there is a $17 per share of upside if TWTR prevails in court and we believe about $17 per share of downside, if the deal breaks. So we are getting 50-50 odds on something that should happen 95%+ of the time," he said in the letter said. Einhorn had a history of feuding with Musk. He was one of the most vocal Tesla bears on Wall Street at one time, taking issue with the electric car maker's safety concerns, price-cutting and demand. The prominent Tesla critic even once called the company's promises about autonomous vehicles "horse---t." The investor has gone in and out of his short position over the years. He most recently bought Tesla puts in the first quarter.