2023 was a tough year for some sectors of the stock market, or at least for some sectors. The market has had a tumultuous couple of years, which started with the outbreak of the coronavirus. The pandemic cut stock markets' value by nearly one third, but the resulting recovery was equally stunning as well. The recovery proved to be a boon for the technology sector, as lockdowns grew the demand for their products. Whether it was retailers like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), who helped people do their shopping from home, or firms like NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), or Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), whose computing products surged into consumer's hands, or even companies like Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM), who surged on the stock market when the demand for remote work and video conferencing boomed, the post-pandemic stock market recovery was a great time to be in technology stocks.
Yet, as they say, all good things must come to an end - so did this good fortune for the technology companies on the stock market. In 2022 as the after effects of the expansionary fiscal policies of the pandemic government and the Russian invasion of Ukraine made their mark, technology companies dropped on the market and bled investors dry. Yet, it appears as if hedge funds are now taking these price drops as an opportunity to buy on the dip. This has been the trend in some of the hedge fund portfolios that we have analyzed so far after their filings for the first quarter of 2023 revealed portfolio compositions. For instance, billionaire David Tepper's 2023 portfolio has several new stock additions that are technology companies. These include NVIDIA and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), alongside a 390% growth in investment in Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER). Another popular hedge fund that increased exposure to the technology industry is Bill Ackman's Pershing Square which took up a cumulative $1.06 billion stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
This trend, as you'll find out today, is also present when we look at another billionaire hedge fund manager's investment portfolio for Q1 2023. This manager is Dan Loeb who heads the hedge fund Third Point Management. Third Point is one of the biggest hedge funds in the world, with its portfolio currently worth $6.1 billion according to Insider Monkey's research. The portfolio's size is yet to reach the level at which it stood by the end of Q1 2022, but is slowly growing to touch the previous levels.
Like some of his other hedge fund peers, Mr. Loeb is also a billionaire with Forbes Magazine placing his latest net worth estimate at $3.5 billion. His hedge fund employs a variety of trading strategies on the financial markets. These include activist investments, venture capital investments, structured and corporate credit strategies, and long and short equity investments. This enables the firm to take a look at the debt strategies of companies to leverage them to its advantage, profit from corporate management weaknesses, and capitalize on share price movements in both directions.
As for Mr. Loeb, he started tinkering with the stock market during his time in high school and continued it into college as well. He was initially quite successful, and during his time at Columbia University, he would end up making $120,000. Yet, his inexperience in the stock market made him invest all of it into a medical equipment company to lose the winnings - an occurrence that would provide him practical experience about the perils of placing all your eggs in a single basket. Before setting up Third Point Management in 1995, he would work in the financial and corporate world for a decade.
He's quite popular in the investment world as well, especially when it comes to letter writing. His latest letter was sent to the embattled firm Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. The letter criticized the firm's chairwoman and shared:
Since our engagement with Ms. Nash began, we have detected a pronounced aversion to including a shareholder representative on the Board. At the same time as we identified Ms. Brady, we proposed a fellow shareholder with impeccable credentials as a second candidate. This individual has years of public market experience, an exemplary record as a corporate director of a larger company, and a strong relationship with one of the top consumer investment companies in the world. Ms. Nash, who was presumably speaking on behalf of the Board, gave unconvincing explanations for rejecting this candidate.
So, wondering what's on Mr. Loeb's mind these days? Well, you came to the right place as we look at precisely that in this article, with some top picks being HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).
Billionaire Dan Loeb's 2023 Portfolio: 10 Latest Stock Picks
Our Methodology
To compile our list of Dan Loeb's latest stock picks, we look at the fund's latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and and picked the ten firms by investment in which Third Point had initiated new stakes in the first quarter.
Billionaire Dan Loeb's 2023 Portfolio: 10 Latest Stock Picks
Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) is a mining company that has operations in different countries all over the world. It explores for and produces copper, zinc, and other materials.
By the end of last year's fourth quarter, 62 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's database had bought a stake in Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK). The firm's largest shareholder during Q1 2023 was Eric W. Mandelblatt's Soroban Capital Partners with a $404 million stake that comes courtesy of 11 million shares.
Along with Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA), and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) is a fresh addition to Dan Loeb's stock portfolio.
Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is one of the older companies on our list. It was set up in 1882 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas. The firm is an electricity provider, with tens of thousands of megawatts of power generation capacity. It also provides logistics management and fuel generation services.
Insider Monkey took a look at 943 hedge fund portfolios for 2022's December quarter and found out that 41 had invested in the firm. Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)'s largest hedge fund shareholder in our database is Howard Marks' Oaktree Capital Management since it owns 23 million shares that are worth $557 million.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is a semiconductor company that was set up in 1978 and is based in Boise, Idaho. The firm makes and sells memory semiconductors that are used along with processors and graphics processing units in computers, data centers, and smartphones.
74 of the 943 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had bought Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)'s shares during 2022's fourth quarter. In the subsequent quarter, the firm's largest shareholder was Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners holding 5.2 million of shares that are worth $259 million.
WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) is an industrial company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm makes and sells a variety of products such as automation and connectivity devices, cables, and wires. Its customers include different firms such as utilities, telecommunications operators, and power generation firms.
As of December 2022, 39 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's research had held a stake in the firm. WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC)'s largest hedge fund investor is Leonard Green's Leonard Green & Partners with a $990 million stake courtesy of 6.4 million shares.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a personal computing products provider. The firm designs and sells central processing units, graphics processing units, and other products for different use cases such as consumer, professional, and enterprise users.
Insider Monkey dug through 943 hedge funds for their Q4 2022 investments to find out that 97 had bought Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)'s shares. During Q1 2023, the firm's largest investor was Ken Fisher's Fisher Asset Management through a $2.5 billion stake.
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) are some of Dan Loeb's first quarter of 2023 stock picks.
