Icahn Enterprises LP’s stock IEP fell another 8% premarket Thursday, after short seller Hindenburg Research issued another report on Carl Icahn’s investing arm, saying disclosures made Wednesday raised more questions about Icahn’s margin loans from the company. Nate Anderson-backed Hindenburg published a report on IEP on May 2, accusing it of inflating asset values and questioning Icahn’s own borrowing using his units as collateral. Icahn owns 84% of IEP and disclosed that he had pledged more than 181 million units, or 60% of his holdings, for margin loans in a 2022 SEC filing. On Wednesday, IEP said that pledge had increased to 202 million units, which Hindenburg estimates was valued at $6.5 billion as of Wednesday’s close. “As noted in our earlier report, Icahn had not disclosed “basic metrics around his margin loans like loan to value (LTV), maintenance thresholds, principal amount, or interest rates.” This is still the case,” said Hindenburg. The short seller now has a short position in IEP units and has initiated a short on the bonds. IEP has also not said why Icahn had borrowed against his holdings. On Wednesday, IEP also disclosed a federal investigation of its business and a surprise first-quarter loss. The stock has lost more than $6 billion of market cap since the original Hindenburg report. MarketWatch has asked IEP for a response.
Regional-bank stocks fell in premarket trades on Thursday after PacWest Bancorp PACWdisclosed a 9.5% drop in deposits that took place last week. PacWest stock is leading the group into the red, with a drop of 20%, followed by a 7.2% loss by Western Alliance Bancorp WAL, a 3.7% loss by First Horizon Corp. FHN, a 3.3% drop by Bank of Hawaii Corp. BOH and a loss of 2.9% by Webster Financial Corp. WBS.