The world's largest hedge fund recently loaded up on shares of some members of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks, and halved an investment in a Chinese maker of electric vehicles.
Bridgewater Associates made a big bet on Apple stock, more than doubled its stake in Nvidia shares, tripled an investment in Microsoft stock, and cut its investment in NIO shares in the first quarter. The fund disclosed the stock trades in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bridgewater didn't respond to a request for comment on the stock trades. Founded by Ray Dalio in 1975, the hedge fund had assets of $97.2 billion as of June 30, 2023, putting it at the top of the list of the world's largest by assets, according to Pensions & Investments. Dalio stepped down as CEO in 2017, but he remains a chief-investment-officer mentor at Bridgewater.
Apple stock slipped 11% in the first quarter, compared with a 10% rise in the S&P 500. Shares of the iPhone maker are up 11% so far in the second quarter, while the index is up 1.0%.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Apple has been working on its own chip designed to run artificial-intelligence software in data-center servers. Such a chip could give the company an advantage in the AI arms race. Apple declined to comment on the report. Apple's second fiscal quarter, ended March 30, was strong, and the company also expanded its stock-repurchase program.
Bridgewater dramatically lifted its Apple stake to 1.8 million shares as of the end of the first quarter from only 1,100 shares as of the end of 2023.
The fund bought 436,100 more Nvidia shares to end the first quarter with 704,600 shares of the maker of AI chips.
Nvidia stock has been rallying ahead of its next earnings report, set for May 22. Expectations for first-quarter results are high, and numbers in the last earnings report set records. CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang saw a 60% pay increase in the company's last fiscal year.
Nvidia stock rocketed 82% in the first quarter, and so far in the second it has gained 2.3%.
Microsoft stock gained 12% in the first quarter, and since the end of March shares are flat.
Microsoft recently asked its China-based cloud-computing and AI staff to transfer to countries including the U.S., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, according to a report in the Journal. The company is acting in the face of escalating U.S.-China tensions. Microsoft acknowledged the company had shared an optional internal transfer opportunity, but declined to comment on the reason behind the offer. Earnings for the fiscal third quarter, ended March 31, were strong.
The fund sold 1.3 million NIO American depositary receipts in the first quarter to cut its stake to 1.4 million ADRs.
NIO's April deliveries of EVs surged from March, and from a year ago. The gains come amid a price war among Chinese EV makers. The competition just became more intense: Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding, another Chinese EV maker, went public in the U.S. earlier this month.
NIO ADRs lost half their value in the first quarter, and so far in the second they're up 17%.
I nside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members -- so-called insiders -- as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
