George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller’s investment firms trimmed their holdings in “Magnificent Seven” stocks before this year’s ebullient run-up in technology companies gave way to a major downturn in mid-July.
Soros Fund Management sold some of its stake in Alphabet Inc. totaling $58 million, and about $15 million of Amazon.com Inc., according to regulatory filings for the three months ended in June.
Druckenmiller was among investors paring stakes in Nvidia Corp., the chipmaker whose soaring price accompanied investor fervor for artificial intelligence companies. His Duquesne Family Office sold more than 1.5 million shares, filings show.
David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management, meanwhile, cut its holdings of Amazon, Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. — three of its largest positions — continuing similar cuts reported at the end of March. David Bonderman’s Wildcat Capital Management also sold out of his Meta position, dumping shares worth $24 million in the quarter.
The filings point to how investors captured some of the benefits of the run-up before a benign economic outlook took a gloomier turn, with the Nasdaq 100 slumping 14% in the four-week period beginning July 10. The “Magnificent Seven” — which includes Alphabet, Apple Inc., Tesla Inc., Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Nvidia — had been emblematic of the rally, reflected in the Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Price Return Index, which rose 17% in both the first and second quarters.
Speaking in a CNBC interview in May, Druckenmiller — who earlier spent more than a decade as Soros’ chief strategist — suggested the artificial intelligence boom may be “over-hyped” in the short term.
Funds with more than $100 million or more must file disclosures about their US holdings within 45 days of the end of each quarter. The disclosures portray holdings of secretive money managers, including at hedge funds and large family offices that clear the threshold. Still, the picture is incomplete as documents omit most derivatives and short positions.
Other highlights include:
- Iconiq Capital, the investment firm best known for managing money for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, sold $2.5 million in Apple.
- Kemnay Advisory Services, a family office that helps manage the fortune of duty-free-shopping billionaire Alan Parker, cut its holdings of Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon.
- Soros sold out of its $108 million position in American National Insurance, and $67 million in Aramark.
- Druckenmiller’s Duquesne reported a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, a real estate investment trust that acquires multi-family apartments, worth $92 million and in cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. of $90 million.
- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. added stakes in cosmetics chain Ulta Beauty Inc. and aerospace company Heico Corp.