Eisman says this “obscure” stock is one of the safest bets out there.
You may be familiar with Steve Eisman.
He’s infamous for his bet against the subprime mortgage debt that helped fuel the 2008 financial crisis, and his story became the inspiration for Michael Lewis’ book—which then became a movie—“The Big Short.”
But while he’s known for shorting stocks, Eisman is long one little-known stock: Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI).
The Chicago-based company provides mission-critical communications systems for law enforcement and emergency responders in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and other international markets, and its shares are up nearly 53% year-to-date.
“It’s a little obscure,” Eisman said to CNBC. “What I really like about it is that it has very good management… it’s an oligopoly, it’s lightly regulated, and its business has gotten better over the last couple of years.”
Motorola Solution’s customers include governments, municipalities, public safety agencies, and first responders, in addition to commercial and industrial clients, which Eisman says makes it a safe play.
“I don’t have to worry about China. I don’t have to worry that much about a recession. It’s about as idiosyncratic as long as you could imagine,” Eisman said of the stock.
Looking more broadly, Eisman said that he doesn’t see a looming economic issue beyond the global industrial recession, which he said isn’t the same as a recession.
As for those stocks that Eisman currently has short positions in, he’s short Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), and Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG), which he said has “the most flawed business model I’ve seen in a very, very long time.”
The massive real estate listing site has recently ventured into other avenues like home-flipping, and Eisman thinks the company is in over its head.
“I actually think the company doesn’t understand the real risks, which are massive,” Eisman said. “I’m convinced the investor base doesn’t have a clue as to what this business is really all about.”