Major hedge funds ditched some of 2024's leading artificial intelligence names ahead of the third-quarter sell-off, according to regulatory filings. The documents released this week showed a slew of billionaire investors selling off stakes in Nvidia , Alphabet and Meta Platforms , among other key contributors to this year's market gain. The selling came ahead of a volatile period for Wall Street's beloved AI trade as investors take profits in some of 2024's winning names.
Last week's unwind in the yen "carry trade," coupled with a weak July jobs report spurred recession concerns and contributed to some weakness. Alphabet , Microsoft and Amazon have all slumped since the start of the third quarter. NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia, YTD Some big investors haven't been shy to call out concerns of an overhyped short-term AI trade.
Duquesne Family Office's Stanley Druckenmiller told CNBC in May that he sold some of his Nvidia stake in March as the "stock went from $150 to $900." Securities filings show that the billionaire investor slashed his position by about 88% in the second quarter to $26.4 million.
Appaloosa was another significant Nvidia profit taker during the period. The David Tepper-led hedge fund slashed its stake in the AI chipmaker by 84%, bringing its position to about $85 million. Soros Capital liquidated its bet.
Alphabet also experienced some heavy hedge-fund selling last quarter. Daniel Sundheim's D1 Capital vacated a position worth $400 million in the search giant and a $382-million position in Meta Platforms. Both stocks had been among the fund's top holdings in the first quarter.
Loeb, Tepper and Bill Ackman's Pershing Square also sliced Alphabet positions, while Baupost's Seth Klarman chopped his stake by 64%. GOOGL YTD mountain Alphabet, YTD Hedge funds also reduced positions in other leading megacap names, including Amazon, Microsoft and Apple . Beyond Nvidia and Alphabet, Appaloosa reduced positions in Amazon, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Advanced Micro Devices .
Druckenmiller chopped his stakes in software giant Microsoft and Apple by 64% and 79%, respectively. Earlier this month Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it sold nearly half its stake in the iPhone maker. Loeb's Third Point reduced positions in both Meta Platforms and Microsoft by 11% each.
To be sure, some big investors beefed up major technology trades. Loeb made a fresh $411-million bet on Apple , while retaining an Amazon stake totaling $986 million. He also hiked his Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing position by 72%.
Both Starboard Value's Jeff Smith and Mason Morfit's ValueAct Capital Management boosted Salesforce bets , while Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global poured more money into Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. The filings cover the end of the second quarter, so it's also possible some of the major investors bought back in during the latest dip. Nvidia shares were up nearly 20% during the prior week, but are still off more than 11% from their record.
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