David Einhorn’s Top 10 Stock Picks

Published March 11, 2021 at 9:28 am EST Updated September 7, 2026 at 1:25 pm EDT

In this article we discuss David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks.

David M. Einhorn is an American investor and hedge fund manager who founded Greenlight Capital in 1996. The hedge fund manages over $1.6 billion in managed securities. The Cornell graduate quickly rose to fame during his initial years in the industry, thanks to his prescient bets against Lehman Brothers, Allied Capital and Green Mountain Coffee. But the 52-year-old investor who exited the billionaire club in 2019 has been facing severe losses over the last several years. In January 2021, his hedge fund reportedly lost about 11%. In 2020, Greenlight Capital rose 5.2%, compared to S&P 500 index’s gain of 18.4%. His audacious bets against Tesla and Netflix haven’t paid off. Since 2015, his hedge fund has lost over 30%.

However, Einhorn’s latest letter to investors shows an unwavering tone and confidence.

Story Stocks Bubble

The hedge fund manager in the Q4 letter acknowledged that Greenlight’s short portfolio had a “difficult quarter.” Einhorn clarified that he doesn’t believe all tech stocks are in a bubble. He believes the “story stocks” which don’t have strong valuations are in a bubble.

Einhorn reiterated his bet against Tesla in the letter, while acknowledging that his short bet against the stock accounted for heavy losses for his hedge fund.

Owning Tesla Stock is a “Fad”

TSLA cars are not a fad; if they were, TSLA would sell many more than it does. The fad is in owning TSLA stock. We have quipped before that twice a silly stock price is not twice as silly, it’s still just silly. But what about 20 times a silly price? In the 2000 internet bubble, Cisco Systems peaked out at 29 times revenue, which would be a discount to where TSLA now trades. This begs the question as to why a stock might trade at 20 times a silly price. Of course, there is the possibility that we are just wrong and bad at measuring silliness. But setting that aside, we think that the answer is that certain stocks are held exclusively by valuation-indifferent investors. In our early training, one of the first concepts we learned is market capitalization, or the share price times the number of shares outstanding. This is what a company is worth in the market today. Valuation analysis means comparing the market capitalization to various indications of value. It might be a comparison to current and future revenues, earnings, cash flows, asset values, etc.

The hedge fund concluded its remarks with the following quote:

“And there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.”
– Counting Crows

Would David Einhorn Rethink his Bets?

In a 2017 interview at the Oxford Union, Einhorn had said:

“We’re wrong often and we have to constantly question whether we’re wrong. There’s a lot of times that come along where you buy a stock and then a certain amount of time happens or additional events happen, and you have to look at it a different way and say ‘no, sorry’. We should have done the opposite of what we did and then change course.

The One Sole Reason for Greenlight’s Success

“If I had to pick one, I think it’s the ability to look at a situation and see it for what it is, which isn’t necessarily what’s presented to you, when something makes sense to figure out what makes sense, and when something does not makes sense to question it, to challenge it, to look at it from a different way, and to often come to the opposite conclusion. You don’t have to do that very often because most of the time, when someone tells you something, it makes sense. So there’s another side to it and when you can come to a view, you know maybe just a few times a year where you have an important difference of opinion with what everybody else is thinking about a particular situation. If you can figure that out, that’s important. We’ve been able to make a small number of large investments that the vast majority of the time have worked out very well, because we really have had an important difference of opinion between what we think and whoever’s on the other side of that transaction when we enter it.

The culture as a firm, where a lot of smart and nice people interact well. I think there’s a lot of humility. I think that people respect one another, people respect one another’s views, people respect me, I respect them, I respect their time which is I think an unusual management culture for senior people to truly respect the time of junior people. So you wind up with a group of people think in recent things before they speak, that can adjust new facts, that can adjust to feedback, and it can work well within a culture. And that’s what we have.”

David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital

Einhorn Compares Tesla to Bankrupt Lehman Brothers

“Lehman threatened short sellers, refused to raise (it even bought back stock), and management publicly suggested it would go private. Months later, shareholders, creditors, employees, and the global economy paid a big price when management’s reckless behavior led to bankruptcy.”

David Einhorn’s struggles shed light on a broader problem the hedge fund industry is facing. Its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 88 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and February 5th 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 187.5%, vs. 75.8% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 111 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 13% through November 16. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.

Let’s start our list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks.

10. Danimer Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: DNMR)

Value: $40,566,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 2.43%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 18

Georgia-based Danimer ranks 10^th on the list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks. The bioplastics company makes biodegradable materials, additives, filaments, aqueous coatings and injection-molded articles, among other products. The stock is up about 50% year to date. The stock is a new arrival on David Einhorn’s portfolio, as his hedge fund bought about 1.7 million shares of the company, worth $40.57 million.

A total of 18 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish DNMR at the end of the fourth quarter. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital owns 1.7 million shares of the company, worth $40.6 million.

9. Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI)

Value: $55,283,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 3.32%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 31

Texas-based Resideo Technologies makes smart and connected home equipment and solutions. The stock is up over 30% year to date. The company’s Q4 revenue jumped 15% to $1.3 billion, meeting the Street’s estimates. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA came in at $212 million, compared to $139 million posted in the same quarter last year. For 2021, the company expects revenue to come in the range of $5.2 billion-$5.4 billion.

Greenlight Capital is one of the 31 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey having stakes in REZI at the end of the fourth quarter. The fund owns over 2.6 million shares of the company.

In their Q4 2020 investor letter, Greenlight Capital highlighted a few stocks and Resideo Technologies Inc. (NYSE:REZI) is one of them.

Here is what Greenlight Capital said:

“REZI is a residential HVAC and security business that was spun out of Honeywell in 2018. REZI enjoys strong recurring revenues generated through replacement sales into a base of 150 million homes. However, execution errors and overspending following the spinout caused REZI’s margins to plummet. By the time the pandemic struck, REZI was already in the process of implementing a turnaround plan, and we used the sell-off in April to establish a small position at an average entry price of $4.88.

We believe that the new management team is well-equipped to capitalize on the opportunity set in both the core business as well as REZI’s low voltage distribution business (ADI). In the most recent quarter, progress made on existing turnaround projects combined with the tailwind of pandemic-driven spending on the home resulted in REZI nearly doubling expected profits and guiding well ahead of consensus for the fourth quarter. We see the potential for this to continue and for earnings to grow from around $2 per share in 2021 to $3 per share in the coming years. The shares ended the quarter at $21.26 and REZI is now a medium-sized position.”

8. Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK)

Value: $56,615,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 3.4%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 31

Teck Resources Ltd ranks 3^rd on the list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks. Teck is a Canada-based mining company that produces coal, copper, zinc, silver, molybdenum, germanium, indium and cadmium. The Fortune 2000 company posted upbeat fourth quarter results, thanks to strengthening copper prices. Adjusted EPS came in at C$0.46, compared to C$0.22 in Q4’20. Adjusted EBITDA rose 20% on a year-over-year basis to C$839 million.

The company is getting the attention of the smart money, as 31 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in the company at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 27 funds a quarter earlier.

7. The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC)

Value: $64,385,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 3.87%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 30

Delaware-based chemicals company Chemours ranks 7th on the list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks. The stock is up about 100% over the last 12 months. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the company’s adjusted EBITDA jumped 8% to $246 million. The company’s 2021 guidance was also in-line with the consensus estimates. The company is one of the biggest producers of titanium in the world. It has three major segments: Titanium, Fluoroproducts and Chemical Solutions.

As of the end of the fourth quarter, there were 30 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database that held stakes in Chemours, compared to 28 funds in the third quarter. Sessa Capital, with 9.5 million shares of CC, is the biggest stakeholder in the company.

6. SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)

Value: $65,609,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 3.94%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 62

David Einhorn has a $65 million stake in gold ETF Spdr Gold Trust. The ETF has gained about 9% over the last 12 months but currently trades in the red amid rising pressure on gold prices.

With a $692.9 million stake in SPDR Gold, First Eagle Investment Management owns 3.9 million shares of the company as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Our database shows that 62 hedge funds held stakes in GLD as of the end of the fourth quarter, versus 65 funds in the third quarter.

5. Change Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: CHNG)

Value: $90,322,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 5.43%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Change Healthcare Inc. ranks 5th on the list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks. Greenlight Capital slashed its stake in the Tennessee-based company by about 9% in the fourth quarter, ending the period with about 4.8 million shares of the company, worth $90 million. Change Healthcare offers IT solutions for the healthcare industry. Its products include revenue management systems, payments cycle system for billing automation, healthcare management portals and enterprise medical imaging solutions. In February, the company posted its quarterly results. Adjusted EPS in the most recent quarter totaled to $0.34, above the estimates by $0.03.

According to our database, the number of CHNG’s long hedge funds positions decreased at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. There were 45 hedge funds that hold a position in Change Healthcare compared to 49 funds in the third quarter. The biggest stakeholder of the company is Camber Capital Management, with 13 million shares, worth $242.5 million.

In their Q1 2020 investor letter, Greenlight Capital highlighted a few stocks and Change Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ:CHNG) is one of them.

Here is what Greenlight Capital said:

“We initiated a large long position in Change Healthcare (CHNG). CHNG is a healthcare technology company that owns the largest medical claims clearinghouse network and several leading software platforms. For years, we were short athenahealth, which promoted itself as the “backbone of the healthcare internet.” That label is more aptly applied to CHNG.

While similar healthcare assets trade for over 20x free cash flow, we were able to acquire our stake in CHNG for $11.40, or 9x our estimated free cash flow. Until recently, McKesson’s large retained ownership of the company rendered the stock less liquid, with an available float of under $1 billion and less than one quarter of all outstanding shares. We believe this limited investor interest in the new company. In February, McKesson announced an exchange offer that increased CHNG’s public float by more than 3x, making the company investable to a much broader range of potential shareholders.

The company has not shown meaningful top-line growth recently. We believe growth in the company’s core businesses has been obfuscated by several one-time factors including planned contract eliminations, the rollout of a new imaging platform, and the shift to ASC 606 accounting standards. With these events now behind the company, we expect solid growth in the coming years with the resumption of elective surgeries. CHNG shares ended the quarter at $9.99.”

4. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAWW)

Value: $94,250,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 5.66%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 35

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital has a $94 million stake in aircraft leasing company Atlas Air Worldwide. The stock is up over 268% over the last 12 months. In the fourth quarter, the company’s non-GAAP EPS came in at $4.83, beating the Street’s estimates by $1.32. Revenue in the quarter jumped 24% to $932.48 million, surpassing the estimates by about $54 million.

As of the end of the fourth quarter, 35 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database of 887 funds held stakes in AAWW, compared to 27 funds in the third quarter. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital is the biggest stakeholder in the company, with 1.7 million shares, worth $94.3 million.

In their Q2 2020 investor letter, Greenlight Capital highlighted a few stocks and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AAWW) is one of them. Here is what Greenlight Capital said:

“We also added a new large equity position in Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW) at an average price of $36.28. AAWW operates the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 747 freighters and is a sizable owner, operator and lessor of 767, 777 and 737 freighters.

Prior to COVID-19, approximately 50% of global airfreight was carried in the belly of passenger planes, mostly on long-haul international flights. With long-haul international passenger traffic down more than 90% year-over-year (and likely to be the last segment of passenger travel to recover), there is a historic shortage of airfreight capacity. After an initial surge in demand to ship Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”), the market is transitioning back towards more traditional airfreight products such as electronics, capital goods, perishables and pharmaceuticals. Market shipping rates increased by over 100% year-overyear in the second quarter and are expected to remain strong. As a result, we expect AAWW to see significant growth in earnings per share in 2020 (from the $5.24 it earned in 2019).

In response to the capacity shortage, some passenger widebodies are temporarily operating as freighters (nicknamed “preighters”), particularly to fulfill urgent PPE demand. However, due to lower cargo capacity, more cumbersome loading and unloading and similar overall trip costs, preighters cost roughly 2.5x as much per ton shipped compared to dedicated freighters. Preighter activity departing from China and Hong Kong has already declined by more than 50% since May as shipping rates have partially normalized. Over the next three years, we don’t expect many large freighters to be either produced or converted from passenger service given the cost and lead-times involved.

While most of the increase in earnings will occur in AAWW’s charter segment, AAWW also has attractive and substantial long-term contractual relationships serving DHL and Amazon, which stand to benefit from the growth in e-commerce and relatively steady business supporting the U.S. military. We acquired our shares at 0.54x Q1 2020 tangible book value and approximately 7x 2019 earnings that were achieved during much more competitive conditions. AAWW ended the quarter at $43.03.”

3. AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER)

Value: $105,877,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 6.36%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 40

AerCap is one of the largest aircraft leasing companies in the world. In 2014, it bought International Lease Finance Corporation. The company is in the news after General Electric confirmed that it would sell its aircraft leasing business to AerCap for $30 billion. AerCap shares have gained about 100% over the last 12 months. David Einhorn’s hedge fund owns 2.3 million shares of the company, worth over $105 million.

The company is getting the attention of the smart money, as 40 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in the company at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 38 funds a quarter earlier. Horos Asset Management said in its Q4 2020 letter that they increased their stake in AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER).

Here is what Horos Asset Management has to say about AerCap Holdings N.V. in their Q4 2020 investor letter:

“Regarding AerCap, we believe that the high uncertainty surrounding its aircraft leasing business has slowly begun to subside. On the one hand, the relatively greater global control over the pandemic and the work of airlines to increase flight safety to the best of their ability has allowed a gradual recovery in air traffic. Although, realistically, it is still far from desirable levels, the trend is positive. On the other hand, the eagerly awaited vaccines to combat COVID-19 may mark a definitive turning point for the airline industry, once the population begins to be immunized. While we are well aware that the scenario may change again (new, more contagious strains, less effective vaccines than expected or new lockdowns), we believe that AerCap’s financial and liquidity risk has been drastically reduced.

In addition, the management team has demonstrated its ability to adapt to this environment by renegotiating with Airbus and Boeing a very significant delay in the purchase of new aircraft, thereby reducing its investment needs, as well as taking advantage of the easing of capital markets to refinance debt at lower rates. Finally, the company realized an impairment in the fleet value of just over $900 million last quarter, impacting the risks of expected cash flows for its older aircraft. After this impairment (the only and last one they expect to make), AerCap’s NAV stands at 69 dollars per share at the end of the third quarter, 50% above its share price at the time of writing and despite having risen by 330% from the lows reached during the worst of the crisis.”

2. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: BHF)

Value: $131,798,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 7.92%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

Insurance company Brighthouse Financial Inc. ranks 2^nd on the list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks. The North Carolina-based company is a member of the Fortune 500 list, with over 2 million customers. The stock has gained about 60% over the last 12 months. Adjusted EPS in the fourth quarter for the company came in at $3.03, way ahead of the Street’s forecast of $2.74. Adjusted net investment income came in at $1.04 billion, compared to $1.00 billion in the third quarter.

Greenlight Capital is one of the 33 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey having stakes in BHF at the end of the fourth quarter. The fund owns over 3.64 million shares of the company.

Miller Value Partners, in their Q4 2020 investor letter, said that their Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: BHF) position has been increased during the second half of 2020.

Here is what Miller Value Partners has to say about Brighthouse Financial, Inc. in their Q4 2020 investor letter:

“In addition, we have recently increased our position size in Brighthouse Financial (BHF), one of the of the largest annuity and life insurance companies in the U.S. Since separating from MetLife, Brighthouse has built strong sales momentum and has focused on building out a new, less capital intensive business. Brighthouse is targeting nearly $9B in annual annuity sales by the end of 2021 (double 2017 levels) and expanding its life insurance businesses by 10x over the same time period. The company is targeting its capital-intensive business to be 18% by 2025 (half of 2016 levels), which should further enhance future cash flow generation. The company’s capital ratios remain strong and well above regulatory requirements. Management is aggressively returning cash to shareholders, targeting a total of $1.5B in share buybacks by the end of 2021 and retiring nearly 1/3 of their outstanding shares. While the market remains concerned about the impact of lower interest rates and their capital-intensive business, we believe the share price is over discounting these concerns and see the potential impact lessening over the coming years. Brighthouse’s equity appears significantly mispriced, closing the year at a greater than 70% discount to book value and a price-to-earnings multiple of 3 times, a significant discount to its peers and the overall market.”

1. Green Brick Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRBK)

Value: $553,765,000
Percent of David Einhorn’s 13F Portfolio: 33.3%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 12

Texas-based home building and land development company Green Brick Partners Inc. tops the list of David Einhorn’s top 10 stock picks. The stock accounts for about 33% of Greenlight’s portfolio, as the hedge fund owns a $553.8 million stake in the company. In the fourth quarter, the company’s GAAP EPS came in at $0.58, beating the Street’s forecast by $0.02. Revenue in the quarter jumped 10% to $254 million, missing the estimates by $ million.

According to our database, the number of GRBK’s long hedge funds positions decreased at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. There were 12 hedge funds that hold a position in Green Brick Partners, compared to 13 funds in the third quarter. The biggest stakeholder of the company is David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, with 24.1 million shares, worth $553.8 million.

In their Q3 2020 Investor Letter, Greenlight Capital highlighted a few stocks and Green Brick Partners Inc. (NASDAQ:GRBK) is one of them. Here is what Greenlight Capital said:

“Green Brick Partners (GRBK) was the primary driver of this quarter’s results. The shares advanced from $11.85 to $16.10. Housing appears to be a major beneficiary from the pandemic, as low interest rates combined with an expanded preference for single-family detached housing has spurred demand. GRBK is well-positioned in secularly growing markets including Dallas, Atlanta, Colorado Springs and Vero Beach. In the second quarter, the company earned $0.66 per share, shattering consensus estimates of $0.42. The company’s record backlog and strong order rate bode well for future earnings. Current consensus of $1.88 per share this year suggests EPS growth of over 60% year-over-year. We believe the shares remain deeply undervalued at 9x estimates, as business momentum continues to accelerate.”

You can also take a peek at Billionaire Carl Icahn’s Top 10 Picks and Cathie Wood’s Top 10 Stock Picks.

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