Greenlight Capital's Q4 Letter: Dramatically Increased General Motors Position

David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital finished 2016 up 8.4% and has returned 16.1% annualized since inception in 1996.

Their fourth quarter letter examines how their portfolio is positioned now that Donald Trump is president and will be trying to change policies. 

Greenlight is long various US value stocks that could benefit from corporate tax cuts (AMERCO, CC, Dillard's, DSW), they're long companies that can benefit from repatriation of foreign cash (Apple (AAPL)), and they're long companies that can benefit from demand for consumer durables (General Motors (GM), a position in which they've "dramatically increased their position."

They're also short 'bubble basket' stocks (Netflix), oil frackers, and Caterpillar (CAT).

Turning back to their thesis on GM, Greenlight writes that, "While the bears have been screaming 'peak auto' for the last couple of years, we think a strengthening job market will sustain the current upcycle and lead to better than expected credit performance at GM's finance subsidiary.  While the bears also cite long-term concerns over self-driving cars, we see a huge intermediate-term opportunity in assisted-driving cars."

During the quarter, David Einhorn's firm also exited its positions in AECOM (ACM), Michael Kors (KORS), and Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO).   They also covered short positions in FLSmidth (Denmark: FLS), Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN), and Reynolds American (RAI).

At the end of 2016, their largest positions in alphabetical order were: AerCap, Apple, CONSOL Energy, General Motors, and gold.  Their average exposures were 106% long and 81% short.

Embedded below is Greenlight Capital's Q4 letter:



We've posted up a bunch of letters today, so be sure to also check out Third Point's Q4 letter as well as Howard Marks' latest memo.

Eminence Capital's Ricky Sandler on Wall Street Week: KORS, EBAY/PYPL, ZNGA, RGC & More

Ricky Sandler, founder of hedge fund Eminence Capital, was recently interviewed on Anthony Scaramucci's rebooted show Wall Street Week.

Eminence manages $6.5 billion now and has been running for 17 years.  Sandler focuses on "quality value," looking for quality businesses but trading at discount prices.  He likes the intersection of growth and value, focusing on a "growth at a reasonable price" approach.

He likes Michael Kors (KORS) and notes it was a momentum stock that experienced a deceleration and he thinks it's a terrific brand that has opportunity for international expansion, trading at under at 10x PE.

Sandler also touched on eBay (EBAY), which recently split off its payments arm PayPal (PYPL).  The standalone EBAY is now purely an online marketplace.  Sandler says PYPL trades about for 20x earnings when you back out the cash, and it has 20% growth "for as far as the eye can see."

The Eminence founder also talked about gaming plays Zynga (ZNGA), Activision (ATVI), Take Two Interactive (TTW), and Ubisoft (UBI.PA).

Eminence is also short Regal Cinemas (RGC).

We've highlighted some other portfolio activity from Eminence here.

Embedded below is the video of Ricky Sandler's Wall Street Week interview:



For more, be sure to check out Mario Gabelli's interview on Wall Street Week from last week too.

What We're Reading ~ 4/30/14

Why it's hard to win in investing [Aleph Blog]

On the flaws of human intuition [Abnormal Returns]

The importance of pricing power [Base Hit Investing]

The greatest predictor of future market returns [Philosophical Economics]

Google: The untold story of Larry Page's incredible comeback [Business Insider]

Jim Grant's case against Valeant Pharmaceuticals [Business in Canada]

An updated pitch on AIG [Barrons]

A look at Liberty Media [Weitz Investments]

Michael Kors and Kate Spade go head to head [CNBC]

Why the housing market is stalling the economy [NYTimes]

On China's economy [Economist]

Solar power burns old utilities' business models [Daily Beast]

On tech investing [Dasan]

Spain: where deflation becomes good news for headline GDP [Fistful of Euros]

Reining in predatory schools [NYTimes]

Joe Nocera on Warren Buffett [NYTimes]

Greenlight Capital's Q1 Letter: Sees Tech Bubble Forming

David Einhorn's hedge fund firm Greenlight Capital is out with is first quarter letter.  In it, they talk about how a potential bubble in tech is forming.  As such, they've shorted a basket of momentum names in small size in order to manage risk.

Other main takeaways from the letter include various new longs for Greenlight: Resona Holdings (Japan: 8308), SunEdison (SUNE), Altice (Netherlands:ATC), and Conn's (CONN).  The last long might be a surprise to some, as many hedge funds have been short the retailer that also deals in subprime lending. 

Greenlight also covered many unsuccessful shorts, including Chipotle (CMG), Fortescue Metals, Loblaw Companies, and Michael Kors (KORS).

At the end of Q1, their largest long positions were Alpha Bank, Apple, gold, Marvell Technology, Micron, and Oil States International.

Embedded below is Greenlight Capital's Q1 letter:




You can view other recent portfolio activity from Greenlight here.

Lone Pine Capital Almost Doubles Michael Kors Stake

Steve Mandel's hedge fund firm Lone Pine Capital has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding their position in Michael Kors (KORS).  Per the filing, Lone Pine now owns 5.5% of the company with over 11.2 million shares.

They've almost doubled their stake recently as this marks an increase in their position of over 5.1 million shares since the end of 2013.  The filing was made due to activity on April 10th.

With this move, KORS has obviously become a bigger part of their portfolio.  KORS was the sixth largest holding in their Lone Cypress fund as of the end of the first quarter, at around 3.1% of assets.

You can view other recent portfolio activity from Lone Pine here.

Per Google Finance, Michael Kors "is a global lifestyle brand . The Company designs, materials and craftsmanship with a jet-set aesthetic that combines stylish elegance and a sporty attitude. The Company is an American sportswear house to a global accessories, footwear and apparel company with a presence in over 85 countries. Its segments include retail, wholesale and licensing. It is focused on retail stores, department stores, specialty stores and select licensing partners."

Lone Pine Capital Starts SolarWinds Stake, Adds to Michael Kors

Per two 13G's filed with the SEC, Steve Mandel's hedge fund firm Lone Pine Capital has revealed two updated portfolio positions.


New SolarWinds (SWI) Position

First, Lone Pine has disclosed a brand new position in SolarWinds (SWI).  Per the filing, the hedge fund owns 7.3% of the company with 5,479,465 shares.  The disclosure was made due to portfolio activity on July 31st.

Per Google Finance, SolarWinds is "designs, develops, markets, sells and supports enterprise information technology (IT), infrastructure management software to IT professionals in organizations of all sizes. The Company’s product offerings range from individual software tools to more comprehensive software products that solve problems encountered by IT professionals. Its products are designed to help management of their infrastructure, including networks, applications, storage and physical and virtual servers, as well as products for log and event management. It offers a portfolio of products for IT infrastructure management. Its products operate in three categories: Free Tools, Transactional Products and Core Products. In May 2013, the Company completed N-able acquisition."


Boosts Michael Kors (KORS) Stake

Second, Mandel's firm has boosted its holdings in Michael Kors (KORS).  Per the filing, Lone Pine now owns 5.2% of KORS with 10,498,164 shares.  This marks a 30% increase in the number of shares they own since the end of the first quarter.  This filing was required due to portfolio activity on August 2nd.

Per Google Finance, Michael Kors is "a designer, marketer, distributor and retailer of branded women’s apparel and accessories and men’s apparel bearing the Michael Kors name and MICHAEL KORS, MICHAEL MICHAEL KORS, KORS MICHAEL KORS and various other related logos. The Company operates its business in three segments: retail, wholesale and licensing. Retail operations consist of collection stores, lifestyle stores, including concessions and outlet stores located primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Wholesale revenues are principally derived from department and specialty stores located throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. The Company licenses its trademarks on products, such as fragrances, cosmetics, eyewear, leather goods, jewelry, watches, coats, footwear, men’s suits, swimwear, furs and ties."


For more from this hedge fund, we've highlighted some of Lone Pine's other portfolio activity here.

What We're Reading ~ Analytical Links 2/27/13

2013 comprehensive review of the best online brokerages [StockBrokers]

Vodafone's (VOD) European troubles: bad news = good news? [MicroFundy]

Investing: rules of the game [Dasan]

On buying near 52-week lows or 52-week highs [World Beta]

You're not as good an investor as you think you are [WSJ]

What Barnes & Noble (BKS) retail arm might be worth [NYTimes]

Mastercard (MA) aims at mobile payment market [Yahoo Finance]

Best Buy (BBY) takeover attempt by founder in jeopardy [Reuters]

Leveraged loan market on fire [SoberLook]

USA Mobility (USMO): Cheap, but for how long? [Barel Karsan]

The new MLP landscape [Barrons]

How to find the next Michael Kors (KORS) [The Street]

Loyalty programs, share buybacks drive Safeway (SWY) [Bizjournals]

Reed Hastings on the future of Netflix (NFLX) [GQ]

3-D printing is on the fast track [NYTimes]

Why medical bills are killing us [Time]