Billionaire Dan Loeb is a hedge fund manager who made his name through activist investing and event-driven strategies. His firm, Third Point’s flagship offshore fund, returned 24% in 2024. Loeb’s investment philosophy has evolved from pure activism toward a broader mix that now includes credit, macro themes, and AI-driven opportunities.
In an interview on the “Invest Like The Best” podcast earlier this year, Loeb discussed how he has started paying closer attention to tech and AI stocks. He explained that instead of purely focusing on mispriced securities and sticking strictly to traditional value investing principles, he now also considers business quality, long-term compounders, and broader structural trends shaping the market.
“There was a time when you could say I’m just going to punt on tech and focus on industrials and consumer and healthcare or whatever,” Loeb said. “I think you have to be a tech person today. It’s such a it’s a big and growing and compounding part of the economy. It affects everything else.”
Loeb said that AI is not a bubble because the massive CapEx will ultimately lead to real results and that spending is supported by earnings and real-world use cases. He added that many AI stocks, including Nvidia, remain attractive even after strong gains, given their continued growth and improving fundamentals.
“Unless you are really draconian or negative and you think that somehow the AI world is going to roll over in 31 or 32, I think it’s the most attractive sector right now,” Loeb said. “It’s where the bulk of our capital is invested. It’s very different from the dot com bubble.”
In Q1, Loeb significantly cut or fully exited several old economy and economically sensitive stocks as part of a broad portfolio rotation. He sharply reduced exposure to industrial and infrastructure names such as Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, while also trimming positions in MasTec and Carpenter Technology. Financial exposure was also cut, with Capital One significantly reduced. At the same time, he scaled back reopening and consumer-linked names like Live Nation Entertainment and SharkNinja, alongside a major reduction in several other cyclical winners from the previous market cycle.
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Dan Loeb of Third Point
7. Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Billionaire Dan Loeb’s Stake: 50,000 Shares Valued at Approximately $15.48 Million (NEW Position)
Broadcom’s (NASDAQ:AVGO) stock got hammered after its recent earnings, despite a genuinely strong quarter — analysts say it’s because expectations had simply run too far ahead of reality. The stock had already gained over 60% in the months leading into the print, with the market pricing in not just strong results but an upgraded outlook. What it got instead was confirmation of the same targets already communicated last quarter, with no upward revision. This was despite AI revenue growing 143% year over year, AI bookings exceeding $30 billion against shipments of only $10.8 billion, and Q3 guidance pointing to AI revenue growth of over 200% year over year.
The bigger shock came when management guided gross margins down to 74% from 77% — a 310 basis point compression in a single quarter — as the revenue mix shifts toward lower-margin hardware. This stung particularly hard because Broadcom’s (NASDAQ:AVGO) CEO had explicitly told investors just last quarter that margins would hold firm.
Bears believe margin pressure will only grow as the ASIC business scales, and that Google — Broadcom’s (NASDAQ:AVGO) largest customer — has already begun diversifying its custom chip sourcing to MediaTek and Marvell, introducing competitive pricing pressure that could further erode margins over time.
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was weak for the quarter as higher inflation led investors to fear a slowdown in hyperscaler spending. This led to lower spending on custom silicon, the main reason for Broadcom’s strength over the last couple of years. We believe Broadcom still has some of the best tech in the space and will be one of the biggest winners from AI.”
