Hedge funder David Einhorn is among the finance giants who are backing Apple (AAPL) despite the iPhone maker’s flagging sales.
In a regulatory filing Monday, Einhorn’s hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, revealed a 23% increase in its Apple stake and a 54% increase in Yahoo (YHOO). Greenlight now owns 8.2 million Apple shares worth $895.1 million, while its 4.4 million share Yahoo stake was worth $162.3 million at the end of the first quarter.
“We believe there is tremendous value in Apple’s brand and growing global customer base that periodically buys new devices and increasingly buys additional services,” Einhorn said in May following Apple’s weak earnings, according to Apple Insider, but he hasn’t always felt that way. The hedge fund manager slashed his stake in Apple by 44% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and previously tried to sue the company over its growing cash hoard in 2013. He dropped that suit less than a month later.
On Monday Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed it had taken a $1.07 billion stake in Apple, and Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors said it invested $24.7 million. In April, Carl Icahn said he’d sold all his Apple stock.
Einhorn also increased his stake in Yelp (YELP), as previously disclosed, to 3.2 million shares worth $64.3 million by the end of the first quarter.
Greenlight managed to post a 3.1% return in the first four months of 2016—beating the broader stock market. It’s a marked change from the fund’s performance in the prior year, when investors pulled out 5% of assets after Greenlight reported a 20% loss.
Shares of Apple are relatively unchanged Tuesday, following their biggest one-day rally in two months after the news of Buffett’s stake.
