We recently published an article titled Billionaire David Einhorn's 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) stands against David Einhorn's other stock picks with huge upside potential.

David Einhorn is a widely renowned hedge fund manager who co-founded Greenlight Capital in 1996. The billionaire graduated from Cornell University and gained experience in the hedge fund industry under the tutelage of Gary Siegler and Peter Collery at the SC Fundamental Value Fund. Einhorn rose to prominence in 2002, when he successfully questioned the accounting practices of Allied Capital, a private equity firm, and disclosed having a short position at the Sohn Investment Conference. The stock plummeted, sparking a heated exchange of claims between Allied and Einhorn. A five-year-long inquiry by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed Einhorn's claim, revealing that Allied did breach accounting rules related to securities laws.

Greenlight Capital focuses on value-oriented initiatives. The investment management firm's primary concentration lies in long and short positions in listed equity securities. This strategy allows Einhorn to navigate both rising and falling markets, giving him flexibility during periods of uncertainty.

Greenlight Capital gained 8.2% in the first three months of 2025, boosted by a gold bet that it believes will pay out further as Trump administration policies continue to shake the economy. In a letter to clients, the firm stated that the precious metal was "by far the biggest winner" in their portfolio, increasing 19%. Gold is frequently used as an inflation hedge, and Greenlight believes the White House's policies would only worsen inflation. "All current Administration policy roads lead to higher longer-term inflation." the letter added. Greenlight reasoned that slower growth would push the US Federal Reserve to drop interest rates more than markets anticipate. As a countermeasure, the fund acquired a stake in SOFR futures (secured overnight financing rate), while also including tail protection in case the dollar falls significantly compared to the euro and yen.

Another aspect of the Greenlight letter was the assertion that the US equities market is in the early stages of a bear market. To that end, the firm was able to determine precisely when to opt out of its equity holdings. According to the firm's letter:

"Bear markets do not go straight down. They are punctuated with 'rip-your-face-off' rallies based on big headlines, extreme investor sentiment, and experience that buying the dip usually pays off."

Our Methodology

For this article, we examined Greenlight Capital’s Q4 2024 13F filings to list down billionaire David Einhorn’s stock picks with the highest upside potential. We ranked the companies in ascending order of their upside potential. These equities are also popular among elite hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A team of engineers in hardhats drilling for oil, clouds of smoke in the air.

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Greenlight Capital's Q4 Stake: $32.7 million

Analyst Upside as of April 30: 105.28%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) offers services and equipment to the natural gas and oil exploration and production industries. The company operates in three segments: Drilling and Evaluation (DRE), Well Construction and Completion (WCC), and Production and Intervention (PRI).

On April 24, Raymond James analyst James Rollyson decreased Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)'s stock rating from Strong Buy to Outperform. In line with the rating change, the price target dropped from $73 to $69. The downgrade comes as Weatherford faces ongoing issues due to its notable exposure in Mexico, where activity from Pemex, the state-owned petroleum company, diminished more than expected. Rollyson stated that the company's near-term results have been impacted by the downturn, although he expects a leveling out in the future. He also mentioned that the company is now in a far better position compared to previous market downturns.

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) reported first-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.03 per share, exceeding analysts' forecasts of $0.92. The company's revenue came in at $1.19 billion, which met expectations. Despite troubling market conditions, Weatherford's performance proved resilient, with adjusted EBITDA margins reaching 21.2%. The company also recorded an adjusted free cash flow of $66 million and a free cash flow conversion rate of 26.1%, up from 24.4% the previous year.

Overall WFRD ranks 3rd on our list of David Einhorn's stock picks with huge upside potential. While we acknowledge the potential for WFRD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%.  If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WFRD but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

 

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

 

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.