10 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022

In this article we present the list of 10 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022. Click to skip ahead and see the 5 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022.

Teck Resources Ltd (USA) (NYSE:TECK), Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD), and Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) are three energy stocks that have grabbed hedge fund titan Stanley Druckenmiller’s complete attention in 2022.

Stanley Druckenmiller is a legend in the investing world with a peerless record. Druckenmiller launched Duquesne Capital in 1981 and built such a sterling reputation that he was recruited by hedge fund legend George Soros in 1988. While Soros gets the bulk of the credit for his firm’s legendary bet against the British Pound in 1992 that banked over $1 billion, it was Druckenmiller’s idea all the way.

Druckenmiller eventually struck out on his own again in 2000 and over the following decade built Duquesne Capital to a peak of over $12 billion in assets under management. He converted Duquesne into a family office in 2010, citing the stress of maintaining his incredible track record of success, and continues to run it to this day.

Druckenmiller’s track record as a money manager during his four decade run is unmatched. The billionaire has never had a down year (not even the financial crisis of 2008 could stop him from posting double digit returns), and enjoyed a stretch of 30 consecutive years during which he compounded assets at a 30%+ rate.

10 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022

Stan Druckenmiller

Druckenmiller was critical of Fed policy last year and has reiterated that stance this year, claiming that because of those inappropriate measures, investors will now pay the price. At the Sohn Investment Conference earlier this month, Druckenmiller stated that we’re six months into a bear market which likely has plenty of run left in it, with Druckenmiller predicting a recession will hit at some point next year.

With that ominous backdrop in mind, let’s take a look at ten stocks that nonetheless captured the attention of Stanley Druckenmiller in the first quarter of 2022. There was a sizable shakeup in his family office’s 13F portfolio during the quarter, as it cut its exposure to consumer discretionary stocks by over 13 percentage points, while making a big investment in energy stocks (exposure up over 10 percentage points). Druckenmiller’s firm now has more exposure to energy stocks (13.78%) than it’s had since the final quarter of 2017.

Read on to find out which stocks Druckenmiller is betting big on as we head deeper into 2022.

Our Methodology

The following data is gathered from Duquesne Capital’s latest 13F filing with the SEC. We follow hedge funds like Duquesne Capital because Insider Monkey’s research has uncovered that their consensus stock picks can deliver outstanding returns.

All hedge fund data is based on the exclusive group of 900+ funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13Fs for the Q1 2022 reporting period.

10 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022

10. Antero Resources Corp (NYSE:AR)

 

Value of Duquesne Capital’s 13F Position: $15 million

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of March 31): 53

Teck Resources Ltd (USA) (NYSE:TECK), Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD), and Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) aren’t the only energy stocks that captured the attention of Stanley Druckenmiller during the first quarter. Antero Resources Corp (NYSE:AR) also landed in his crosshairs, as the money manager built a new stake in AR consisting of 491,800 shares.

Antero Resources Corp (NYSE:AR) was a popular buy among hedge funds last quarter, as it had been for the prior two quarters as well, as hedge fund ownership of AR has jumped by 61% over the past three quarters.

Antero Resources Corp (NYSE:AR) had a strong first quarter, buoyed by the highest quarterly NGL price the company has ever enjoyed. Adjusted earnings per share hit $1.15 during the quarter, topping estimates. Revenue from natural gas sales rose to $996 million, up 38% year-over-year, while natural gas liquids sales rose by 50% to $660 million.

9. The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)

 

Value of Duquesne Capital’s 13F Position: $18.8 million

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of March 31): 38

Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital also added The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) to its 13F portfolio during Q1, buying 409,325 shares of the publishing giant. That was in stark contrast to the overall hedge fund industry, as there was a 16% dip in ownership of NYT even when accounting for Druckenmiller’s purchase.

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) has become a much more modern and profitable enterprise in recent years. Digital subscriptions more than doubled between 2018 and 2021, leading to digital revenue surpassing print revenue in 2020. The shift to more digital customers and fewer print ones (though print subscriptions have doggedly hung in there over the past decade) has allowed the NYT to generate far more profit from its content, with its EBIT margin rising by 11 percentage points since 2016, to 14%.

Shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) have pulled back considerably this year, down by 39% to stand barely above their 2018 peaks, when the company had half the digital subscribers it does now, so it seems like a sensible time to invest in the iconic news brand, as Druckenmiller has done.

8. Global-e Online Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBE)

 

Value of Duquesne Capital’s 13F Position: $19.4 million

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of March 31): 26

Global-e Online Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBE) represents yet another diverse purchase made by Druckenmiller during Q1. The hedge fund manager couldn’t resist snapping up 575,630 shares of the e-commerce company, whose shares have been battered amidst fears of a looming recession. GLBE also featured in Cathie Wood’s Latest Portfolio: 10 New Stock Picks in 2022.

Global-e Online Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBE) shares have lost 66% of their value this year despite a strong first quarter for the company during which its organic GMV rose by an identical 66%. The company did cut its guidance for the remainder of the year, citing multiple near-term headwinds, and investors are concerned about how ecommerce companies will fare with Covid re-openings picking up steam, which has weighed heavily on the stock.

For investors with a longer-term outlook, GLBE could be a great buy-low candidate, boasting multiple catalysts that should keep its growth well above that of the broader e-commerce industry for several years.

The Artisan Mid Cap Fund recently added to its Global-e Online Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBE) holding and had this to say about the company in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“We added to several positions during the quarter including Global-e online. Global-e online is a global e-commerce service platform enabling cross-border transactions across 200+ countries. It provides three critical elements: website localization, payments and logistics. For background, ~30% of a global brand’s online traffic is from international shoppers, though the portion of its international sales is no more than 5%-10% as brands struggle to overcome numerous cross-border challenges—different languages, currencies, payment methods, duties/taxes and shipping providers. There is no one-size-fits-all solution as each market is unique; hence, merchants of all sizes find a do-it-yourself cross-border strategy to be complex, costly and difficult to maintain. In our view, the capability of Global-e online’s platform to remove these frictions was recently validated by its strategic partnership with e-commerce platform giant Shopify, which also made an equity investment in the company. With strong current performance and the potential for accelerated growth once Global-e completes its technological integration with Shopify’s platform, we added to our GardenSM position.”

7. Workday, Inc. (NYSE:WDAY)

 

Value of Duquesne Capital’s 13F Position: $19.8 million

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of March 31): 87

Druckenmiller also built a new Q1 stake of 82,500 shares in Workday, Inc. (NYSE:WDAY), a provider of employee management and financial services software. He wasn’t the only one with a keen interest in Workday, as there was a 16% jump in hedge fund ownership of the stock during the quarter, which propelled Workday onto the list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2022 Q1 Rankings for the first time.

Workday, Inc. (NYSE:WDAY) became profitable on a quarterly diluted EPS basis for the first time in 2021, doing so twice, which helped push the stock to record highs. Profitability has sagged in recent quarters however, with Workday recording an operating loss of $72.8 million in the first quarter of its fiscal 2023.

On other hand, Workday, Inc. (NYSE:WDAY)’s revenue growth remains strong at 22% during the latest quarter, hitting $1.43 billion despite several big deals actually being pushed back until later in the year. As a result, Workday was able to push its full-year revenue guidance up by another 22% to between $5.54 billion and $5.56 billion. With shares crumbling by over 50% since November, WDAY now trades around record lows in terms of its P/S ratio (now less than 7X), making it look like a reasonable long-term investment.

6. Zendesk Inc (NYSE:ZEN)

 

Value of Duquesne Capital’s 13F Position: $20.2 million

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of March 31): 66

We finish up the first half of the list with another software provider, Zendesk Inc (NYSE:ZEN), which operates a cloud-based customer service platform. Duquesne Capital built a new position of 167,660 ZEN shares during the quarter, a stake worth just over $20 million. ZEN was equally as popular as WDAY among hedge funds during Q1, as there was a 16% rise in ownership of it.

Druckenmiller and other eager hedge fund managers may have been interested in seeing Zendesk Inc (NYSE:ZEN) get acquired by a larger tech company, which appeared to be a realistic possibility. There were even suggestions that a bidding war could ensue between multiple bidders. Ultimately, that never materialized, as the company wrapped up its strategic review without receiving an actionable proposal.

While Zendesk Inc (NYSE:ZEN) has made several missteps in recent months that have irked investors, including Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners, which counts ZEN as its top stock pick, the company’s fundamentals are strong. It grew revenue by 30% last year to $1.34 billion and expects growth to be between 26% and 28% this year. Its gross margin also hit 83% in the first quarter of this year, compared to 79% in 2020, as it continues to benefit from improved scale and efficiency.

Teck Resources Ltd (USA) (NYSE:TECK), Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD), and Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) are a few of the other stocks that Stanley Druckenmiller was buying during Q1. Check out the full list in the second part of this article, linked to below.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022.

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Disclosure: None. 10 Stocks That Have Grabbed Stanley Druckenmiller’s Attention in 2022 is originally published at Insider Monkey.