A Research In Motion BlackBerry StormLUCAS JACKSON
Well, well, look who's interested in Research In Motion Ltd. : Hedge fund manager David Einhorn, of Greenlight Capital, loaded up on 2.9 million shares in the BlackBerry maker in the fourth quarter.
The disclosure is part of the latest round of regulatory filings made by well-heeled investors, including Warren Buffett and John Paulson. In the case of Mr. Einhorn, he seems to have a thing for technology stocks that have fallen out of favour with investors, given that he also bought shares in Dell Inc. and Xerox Corp. in the fourth quarter.
Clearly, Mr. Einhorn sees some potential in RIM, even though his bet on it isn't exactly massive. The 2.9 million shares have a value today of about $44-million (U.S.), making him merely the 27th largest investor in the company. His stake in RIM is just 0.56 per cent. As well, his RIM holdings pale next to more established technology companies like Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc.
Greenlight's Apple holdings, which grew by 150,000 shares in the fourth quarter, are worth about $765-million – meaning that Mr. Einhorn's bet on the iPhone maker is more than 17-times bigger than his bet on the BlackBerry maker. Meanwhile, Greenlight's Microsoft holdings are worth more than $450-million.
Nonetheless, other investors are taking note of Mr. Einhorn's move on RIM, driving the shares up 3.9 per cent on Wednesday.
David Berman