Icahn Cuts Loose With $400 Million Fire Sale On His Own Company (Shares Plummet -12% to 21 Year Low)

Wall Street: “Icahn Enterprises can’t drop any lower than it already has…”

Carl Icahn: “Hold my beer…”

It’s official, the word on the street is that Wall Street mob boss Carl Icahn, the man who's been in more corporate bloodbaths than anyone alive today, just cut loose $400 million worth of his own stock, Icahn Enterprises. Read: Icahn dumping his own shares like they’re last week's trash. 

(Source: Market Watch) 

Spoiler: They were last week's trash. 

As I’m sure everyone knows, this massive sale offering comes right off the heels of Icahn getting a prissy slap on the wrist from the SEC due to him hiding over $5 billion in margin loans. The punishment? A small $2 million fine, which is like my equivalent to finding a penny when I need a twenty. But hey, who's counting when you’re worth billions, amirite?

(Source: CNBC) 

However, today, with this $400 million cash out, from the man himself, combined with the thorn of the SEC, Icahn Enterprises’ stock cratered, down -12% today. Talk about investors getting a kick in the teeth…

(Source: Reuters) 

Especially considering that Icahn’s company has been in a freefall, losing nearly -80% over the past five years, while being down -20.72% YTD. However, unlike the reason for the $400 million sell-off, the five year plunge has mainly been due to Icahn Enterprises’ earning failures. 

In short, if Icahn Enterprises were a movie, it’s be going straight to DVD, as they’ve missed EPS and revenue estimates by a soul-crushing average of --229.86% and -1.52% over the past four quarters - with their latest earnings back in June, resulted in a massive -475.42% miss on EPS and a surprising +5.35% beat on revenue. 

(Source: Seeking Alpha)

On the other hand, Icahn Enterprises YoY results back in June look a bit better, but still bad. For instance, revenue of $2.2 billion is down -13.7% year-over-year, while net income, net profit margin, and operating income have all plunged -23.11%, -42.65%, and -157.25% over the past 12 months. Oh, and the technical analysis you ask? Yeah, price action basically looked at Icahn Enterprises financials and said, “Get rekt” as 16 out of 17 daily indicators are flashing “Strong Sell” like a neon sign outside a seedy strip joint.

In addition, all 15 daily moving averages are hinting at more downtrend continuation. So clearly, as we can all see, the sentiment here on Carl Icahn’s baby is about as positive as a death row inmate’s last meal. Ooof…

However, in regards to the reason for the $400 million sale by Icahn Enterprises, executives claim the cash will go towards potential acquisitions and other company “needs”. But, given the recent SEC PR nightmare, combined with the company’s financial sh*t storm - some analysts think it’s a desperate move to keep the lights on, while others say it’s just Carl shuffling the deck. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Either way, diluting your own stock by this much regardless of any move or acquisition does NOT inject any investor confidence. Which is why, when it comes to my personal opinion on the matter, the road for Icahn and his investors is about as smooth as broken glass. 

The stock is clearly scraping the bottom of a 21-year low, and the company is still in a deathmatch with short-seller Hindenburg Research’s claim of Icahn running a “Ponzi-like” operation. Translation: Hindenburg is obviously popping champagne this very moment.

(Source: Giphy) 

Now of course, only time will tell the true reasoning of the $400 million offering, but for now, geez Louise, it doesn’t look like there’s any hope in sight for the stock as of now. But hey, it’s still Carl Icahn we’re talking about here. If the guy can get away from a $5 billion hide 'n seek game with the SEC by only paying a mere $2 million fine, I guess anything is possible when it comes to Icahn. 

(Source: Time) 

Stocks.News holds positions in Icahn Enterprises as mentioned in the article.