New York investor David Einhorn is known for bringing down stocks with his short calls, but last year that boomeranged.
His short on Green Mountain Roasters — which he announced to great fanfare in 2011 — fell flat last year, according to a copy of Einhorn’s year-end investor letter obtained by The Post.
Einhorn’s hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, ended the year up 7.9 percent, with a big Apple stake also dragging it down. Greenlight lost 4.9 percent during the fourth quarter.
“Our coffee was too hot, our apple was bruised,” Einhorn wrote in the letter.
Einhorn’s usual ability to crush a stock with one of his short calls, a process known as getting “Einhorned,” didn’t help him last year.
Greenlight’s short portfolio rose an average of 10 percent for the year, with Green Mountain “the worst offender,” according to the letter. It rose 74 percent, wiping out Greenlight’s 2012 profits on the position.
Likewise, Apple’s decline from $677 to $532 hurt the firm, “giving back all the gains and then some,” Einhorn wrote.
After selling Apple in the third quarter, Greenlight bought its shares back in the fourth quarter. Given the iPhone maker’s continued slide into 2013, that could be setting Einhorn up for a tough first quarter.
Einhorn’s 2012 performance trailed the Standard & Poor’s 500, which gained 11.5 percent.