Hedge Fund Presentation Sends Stock Tumbling

It seems a long time has passed since the “irrational exuberance” of the old Bank sage, Alan Greenspan. But exuberance is in the air again. That was the gist of the argument made by Greenlight Capital boss, David Einhorn, in his hedge fund presentation at the the 19th Annual Sohn Investment Conference.

In his presentation at the Lincoln Center in New York last week Mr Einhorn identified one of a number of “cool kid stocks” that he’d earlier mentioned in a stocks circular to investors. “Cool kid stocks” are those that are unrealistically valued. That’s overvalued by analysts beguiled by both cloud and internet.

His hedge fund presentation singled out one of those stocks for special attention. And what attention it was for Athenahealth Inc., the stock in question.

Hedge Fund Presentation Makes Stock Wobble

In a series of PowerPoint slides the presentation made clear how overvalued the stock was. The hedge fund presentation had everything in it, as you can see. A fundamentally sound business with decent products and services…attracting a sheer over-valuation. There was a very promotional CEO character, over-enthusiastic Wall Street analysts, jokes, cartoons and YouTube videos.

At the end of the presentation the stock was down 7%. At the close of the markets the following day it was down almost 14%. And then on Wednesday 7th May the stock started falling again. So, within an hour of the market’s opening it was down 8%.

Phew. That’s some hedge fund presentation. And it just goes to show how powerful your presentation media can be. Yes, of course, it helps when you are the boss at a major hedge fund!

You can learn more about how to get more from your PowerPoint presentations when you join us for a presentation training course or one-to-one coaching with Time to Market. Alternatively, you’ll find your own online presentation skills course a good place to start.