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New 'BLOCKBUSTER' APPLE iTHING imminent - billionaire Einhorn

Cupertino unicorn farm will reward me, says Mr Unicorn

Billionaire investor David Einhorn has upped his shares of Apple through his Greenlight Capital Re reinsurer and is waiting for the fruity firm's "next blockbuster product".

“Our thesis remains that Apple has a terrific operating platform,” he said on a conference call yesterday, reported by Bloomberg, Reuters and others. “Its loyal, sticky and growing customer base will make repeated purchases of a growing portfolio of Apple products.”

At the end of last year, Greenlight held 1.3m shares in the iPhone maker, according to a regulatory filing, but Einhorn wouldn't say how much the reinsurer had increased its stake by, or when it had bought its new shares.

Einhorn has been a pain in Apple's arse recently, agitating for shareholders to get their mitts on more of the fruity firm's giant piles of cash and suing Apple to block a vote on the issuance of higher-dividend preferred shares earlier this year. The stocks, dubbed iPrefs, are part of Einhorn's attempt to get more money out of Cupertino.

He's a bit happier now since Apple took a "major step forward" by issuing $17bn in bonds last month as well as offered to return $100bn to stockholders by upping dividends and share buybacks.

“This is a vastly more shareholder friendly capital-allocation policy than where Apple stood a few months ago,” Einhorn said.

Apple chief Tim Cook said last month that the firm was upping its quarterly dividend by 15 per cent to $3.05 per share and was boosting its share repurchase programme. He also said that new products would be coming along later this year and throughout next year. ®

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