There are few money managers on Wall Street who have achieved as much as success as D. E. Shaw, a former Columbia University computer science professor who has become one of the richest men in the world through stock trading. His hedge fund, D. E. Shaw, managed a 13F portfolio worth over $182 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. Shaw is famous for using a stock picking technique that offers hybrid integration of mathematical algorithms with human fundamental analysis. This strategy is reflected in the Shaw hiring process as well. The workforce boasts over 80 PhDs and dozens of International Math Olympiad medalists.
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In recent years, Shaw is viewed less as a hedge fund manager and more as a pioneer of computational biochemistry. He has spent the early part of this year unveiling breakthroughs in molecular dynamics. Using the proprietary Anton 3 supercomputer—a machine significantly faster than any general-purpose supercomputer for simulating molecular interactions—Shaw has made strides in protein folding that are currently being used to develop targeted therapies for rare genetic disorders. Per data from LCH Investments, D. E. Shaw is the third-highest grossing hedge fund of all time, with over $55 billion in lifetime net gains.
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David E. Shaw of D.E. Shaw
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the best stocks to buy according to billionaire D. E. Shaw, we reviewed the latest 13F filings of D. E. Shaw. Next, we focused on the top 10 stocks in his portfolio. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2025 database of 1041 elite hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
D. E. Shaw Stock Portfolio: Top Stocks to Buy
10. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)
D. E. Shaw’s Stake: $1 Billion
D. E. Shaw has been a long-term admirer of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). His fund first purchased a stake in the company back in the fourth quarter of 2010 when the streaming company was still not a household name. This position comprised more than 300,000 shares. The billionaire then proceeded to add to this stake, taking it as high as 106 million shares by the first quarter of 2014. Since then, however, this position has been trimmed, but features consistently in the 13F portfolio of the fund. Filings for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that the fund owned nearly 11.6 million shares in the company, representing an increase of more than 48% compared to filings for the third quarter of 2025.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has attracted interest from Wall Street bigwigs amid a billion-dollar opportunity as the firm shifts to its in-house ad-tech stack. Under this new model, the ad revenue for the company is projected to double from $1.5 billion in 2025 to $3 billion by the end of 2026, providing high-margin growth that is not solely dependent on adding new subscribers. The streaming giant has also shifted from a cash burner to a cash generator in recent years. It is forecasted to generate roughly $11 billion to $11.4 billion in positive FCF in 2026. For hedge funds, this cash opens the door for aggressive share buybacks or even the first-ever dividend discussions, which attracts a more stable class of institutional investors.
9. Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)
D. E. Shaw’s Stake: $1.1 Billion
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) represents another long-term bet by D. E. Shaw. The fund has held a position in the company since the first quarter of 2018. Back then, this stake comprised 4.8 million shares. D. E. Shaw grew this to 9.7 million shares just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing exposure to the travel firm during this time and then buying up the shares again as travel demand rebounded. In the third quarter of 2020, the fund held just 171,000 shares in the firm, but increased this to over 10 million shares by the third quarter of 2021. Another period of trimming followed, though not as radical as the one during the pandemic. Latest filings show that the fund owned 5.5 million shares in the firm, up 66% compared to filings for the previous quarter.
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is transitioning from a simple hotel site to a full-service travel ecosystem. Hedge funds support this bullish thesis. For example, latest data shows that transactions for the company involving more than one travel component grew in the high 20% range in 2025. Another important milestone for the company is that over 50% of bookings now come directly through the app, which drastically reduces reliance on expensive Google search ads and improves margins. Additionally, generative AI tools used by Booking have already led to a 10% decrease in average cost per booking by automating routine customer inquiries.
8. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
D. E. Shaw’s Stake: $1.2 Billion
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has featured in the 13F portfolio of D. E. Shaw consistently since the third quarter of 2015. Back then, this position comprised 11.4 million shares. The fund added to this stake and grew it to over 12.7 million shares by the fourth quarter of 2017. However, the position has been trimmed since then. Latest filings show that the fund owned just under 4 million shares in the company at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, representing an increase of 22% compared to filings for the previous quarter. Throughout the many years that D. E. Shaw has held shares in the technology giant, the stake has never comprised less than 2.5 million shares, per a historical look at the portfolio.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is on the radar of elite hedge funds because of a number of reasons. One of these is the success of the AI products that the company is marketing. For example, Google has successfully closed the perception gap with rival OpenAI. Gemini now enjoys multi-modal superiority, with the latest iteration of Gemini proving that Google can integrate video, audio, and text reasoning more natively than competitors. The user scale for Gemini is also growing. In February 2026, Google confirmed that the Gemini integrated ecosystem now serves over 750 million monthly active users, calming fears that ChatGPT would drain Google traffic.
7. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)
D. E. Shaw’s Stake: $1.3 Billion
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) is one of the long-term holdings of D. E. Shaw. The fund first purchased a stake in the company back in the fourth quarter of 2010. This position comprised close to 1.3 million shares. Minor additions and subtractions were made to this in the coming years. Since the fourth quarter of 2024, however, the fund has been aggressively buying the shares of Texas Instruments. It has added to the position by 241%, 17%, 87%, and 93% in the last four quarters. Filings for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that the fund owned nearly 7.5 million shares in the semiconductor company.
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) has been attracting interest from Wall Street for a variety of factors. One of these is that the company, after allocating heavy capital expenditures to shore up local manufacturing over the past few years, recently announced that it would be reducing 2026 CapEx guidance to a range of $2 billion to $3 billion. This shift is expected to nearly double Free Cash Flow. CEO Haviv Ilan recently stated the company is on track to deliver over $8 per share in FCF in 2026, a massive jump that has caught the attention of value-oriented funds. Another positive development regarding the semi firm is the purchase of Silicon Labs for $7.5 billion. Analysts expect over $450 million in gross cost synergies.
6. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
D. E. Shaw’s Stake: $1.4 Billion
D. E. Shaw has been bullish on the long-term prospects of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock for more than a decade and a half. The fund has held a sizable stake in the technology giant since the fourth quarter of 2010. Although the stake initially comprised only 2.2 million shares, it has since grown. In the second quarter of 2012, it comprised close to 32 million shares. Filings for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that the fund upped the stake by almost 87% compared to filings for the previous quarter. It comprises more than 6 million shares presently. The loading up of the stock marks the first time in eight quarters that the fund has not trimmed this holding, but instead increased it.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one-upping competitors in the AI space through the $200 billion capital expenditure plan that is giving the firm a custom silicon advantage. Amazon’s in-house chips, like Trainium and Graviton, now generate over $10 billion in annualized revenue. By owning the silicon layer, Amazon can offer AI compute at a significantly lower cost than competitors who rely solely on third-party GPUs, a structural advantage that hedge funds believe will lead to superior long-term margins. Another catalyst for the stock is the advertising business, which has quietly reached an $80 billion annualized run rate, carrying significantly higher margins than the core retail business.
While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMZN and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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