Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Falls 3% Amid Coronavirus Turmoil

(Bloomberg) -- David Einhorn extended a loss in his hedge funds in February amid the sharpest decline in equity markets since the financial crisis.

Greenlight Capital fell 3.4% across the funds for the month, bringing losses for the year to 10.8%, according to an investor update on Friday viewed by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index lost about 8% with dividends reinvested.

Einhorn, whose value style of investing has mostly been out of sync with markets in recent years, is still recovering from a record loss of 34% in 2018 and his fund remains below its high-water mark despite a 14% gain last year. Early in 2019, he vowed to rework his portfolio by making fewer, more-concentrated investments.

Stocks plunged around the world this week as the World Health Organization raised its global risk level for the coronavirus and as a growing number of corporations warned of hits to sales and profits. The S&P 500 Index is in its longest slump in more than three years, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank to the lowest since June.

Four out of five of Einhorn’s biggest public equity holdings as of Dec. 31 lost money in February. The sole gainer in the period was chemical manufacturer Chemours Co.

Meanwhile, some of the stocks Greenlight has bet against rose in February, including Tesla Inc. and Netflix Inc.

A spokesman for the New York-based firm declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Katia Porzecanski in New York at kporzecansk1@bloomberg.net;Simone Foxman in Doha at sfoxman4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Mamudi at smamudi@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Dan Reichl

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