In this piece, we will take a look at Stanley Druckenmiller’s 13F portfolio and its top 15 stock picks. If you want to skip our introduction to the billionaire hedge fund boss and the stock market in general, then take a look at Stanley Druckenmiller 13F Portfolio: Top 5 Stocks.
The high interest rate environment which started to take shape last year has not been great for the hedge fund industry. Most funds tend to do well when the stock market as a whole is rising, but the energy supply shocks of 2023 effectively bifurcated the stock market into two segments. These included growth stocks that fell as inflation rose and purchasing powers dropped, and traditional sectors such as petroleum, gas, and coal which rose as investors tried to profit from an effective reworking of the global energy market.
The fall in the grace of growth stocks last year also took down several hedge funds with it. As a whole, the industry lost $208 billion in 2022, with funds such as Chase Coleman and Feroze Dewan’s Tiger Global and Dan Loeb’s Third Point Capital losing more than $20 billion cumulatively. For more details, you can check out 15 Best Hedge Funds to Work For.
Amidst this turmoil, one hedge fund boss that remained relatively unscathed was Stanley Druckenmiller. Mr. Druckenmiller has decades of experience in the finance industry, and he set up his own hedge fund, Duquesne Capital Management, in 1981. He is also one of the most famous hedge fund investors in the history of the industry. While some of our readers might only be young enough to remember the British Pound’s crash last year that nearly sent it to parity levels with the U.S. dollar, the British currency underwent similarly rapid depreciations in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Mr. Druckenmiller, working for George Soros at that time, capitalized on the latter when they correctly bet that the British government would be forced to devalue the Pound in 1992 and fail to meet the conditions for the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. This netted them more than a billion dollars in profit.
The hedge fund investor has since retired from managing investor capital after he closed down his fund in 2010 stating that the job became too stressful. Currently, he invests in the stock market through his family office, which also leaves him insulated against large scale capital withdrawal from hedge funds during times of crisis in the stock market such as the one that took place last year and in the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus breakout.
However, even though he has chosen to step back from the lucrative world of hedge fund investing, Mr. Druckenmiller still has his fingers on the pulse of the industry. 2023’s first half has been a stunner for industry observers and investors, as, despite an uncertain U.S. economic outlook and high interest rates, indexes such as the NASDAQ 100, have posted stunning gains that have touched 45%. Much of these have been due to the hype in artificial intelligence. Speaking at an event in June, he shared insightful thoughts about artificial intelligence and its prospects, particularly during a potential recession.
According to him:
All of AI is not going to make it through whether we have a recession or not because they haven’t separated the wheat from the chaff yet. But I do believe, unlike crypto, I think AI is real, it’s probably, it could be as transformative as the Internet, it’s a huge thing. And I think I’ve argued publicly that if staples can go up in price in a recession, why can’t a company like NVIDIA if they go up; if they go up if their orders and earnings go up 70% in a hard landing – which is what I think would probably happen. It’s not clear that NVIDIA goes down despite the lofty valuation level. History has proved that if you do, that if you have very good earnings in a recession, and they’re sustainable, if they’re not the market somehow figures it out, those stocks would do just fine. So we have some longs, we have some shorts, and the AI’s sort of dominated the long portfolio for five or six months.
So, what are Stanley Druckenmiller’s latest investments? With latest 13-F filings now out, we took a look and found out that the top three picks are Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).
Our Methodology
To compile our list of Stanley Druckenmiller’s latest stock picks, we took a look at his 13-F portfolio for the second quarter of this year and narrowed down the 15 largest investments.
Stanley Druckenmiller 13F Portfolio: Top 15 Stocks
15. PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $38.9 million
PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) is an American software company that enables firms to digitize their operations. Despite growing its revenue in the second quarter, the firm’s profit dropped as inflation increased operating costs.
Mr. Druckenmiller’s family office owned a $38.9 million stake in PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) as of June 2023. During the same time period, 40 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had also held the firm’s shares out of which the largest investor was Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital with a $450 million investment.
PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) joins Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) as one of Stanley Druckenmiller’s top stock picks.
14. Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $42.2 million
Along with PTC Inc, Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) was another new addition to Duquesne Family Office’s second quarter portfolio. An industrial scale building products provider, the firm’s shares are rated Buy on average and have an average share price target of $172.
Along with Mr. Druckenmiller’s $42.2 million investment, 37 hedge funds out of the 910 polled by Insider Monkey had owned $1.3 billion worth of shares of the company during 2023’s June quarter. Out of these, the biggest shareholder is John Smith Clark’s Southpoint Capital Advisors with a $217 million stake.
13. Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $43.5 million
Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) is a healthcare company that enables physicians and others to diagnose serious diseases such as cancer. The firm scored a win in August after its lung transplant assessment test secured Medicare coverage.
During this year’s second quarter, 45 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s research had bought a stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA). Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital is its biggest investor since it owns 3.5 million shares that are worth $170 million.
12. IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $44.7 million
IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) is a diversified healthcare technology provider which provides customers with the ability to track pharmaceutical sales, monitor patients, and conduct other tasks. It’s been having a good time in its market so far, having beaten analyst EPS estimates for all four of its latest quarters.
Mr. Druckenmiller’s family office owned 198,760 IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) shares during June 2023 which were worth $44.7 million. The firm’s largest investor during this time period was Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital with a $869 million stake, and cumulatively, 64 of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had also invested in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV).
11. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $49.1 million
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world. It’s currently facing difficulties in completing several advanced chip making plants, due to labor and regulatory constraints.
During Q2 2023, 121 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had held a stake in the company. Out of these, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)’s biggest shareholder is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with an investment of $2.9 billion.
10. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $80.9 million
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is one of the oldest companies on our list since it was set up in 1892. The firm makes and sells industrial products such as jet engines and power generation equipment.
Duquesne Family Office owned 736,095 General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) shares as of June 2023, allowing it to own an $80.9 million stake. Alongside the fund, 71 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had also invested in the firm during the same time period. Among these, the largest shareholder is Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management with a stake worth $4.5 billion.
9. News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $88.2 million
News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS), as the name suggests, is a news and entertainment company that distributes some of the most widely read publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Marketwatch. Mr. Druckenmiller’s firm owned a $80.9 million stake in the firm as of this year’s second quarter.
During the same time period, 14 of the 910 hedge funds surveyed by Insider Monkey had also invested in the firm. News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS)’s biggest hedge fund investor is Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management since it owns 16.9 million shares that are worth $330 million.
8. Option Care Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPCH)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $142.7 million
Option Care Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPCH) is a medical company that provides nutrition plans and treatments for a variety of diseases. It beat analyst Q2 2023 EPS estimates by a wide margin and is the first stock on our list that is rated Strong Buy on average.
As of June 2023, 43 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had bought Option Care Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPCH)’s shares. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management is the largest shareholder out of these through a stake worth $144 million.
7. Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $143.8 million
Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK) is a Canadian mining company that produces metals such as copper, zinc, lead, and silver. It also has coal production facilities. Duquesne Family Office owned 3.4 million shares of the firm that were worth $143.8 million during this year’s second quarter.
Along with the fund, 79 of the 910 hedge funds surveyed by Insider Monkey had also held stakes in the company during the same time period. Out of these, Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK)’s biggest investor is Eric W. Mandelblatt’s Soroban Capital Partners since it has invested $423 million.
6. T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Q2 2023 Investment: $163.8 million
T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) is a telecommunications carrier that provides internet, voice, and other connectivity products and services. The firm has consistently beaten analyst EPS estimates in all four of its latest quarters, despite the growing targets.
86 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q2 2023 database had bought and invested in T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) ‘s shares. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group is the largest hedge fund shareholder since it owns six million shares that are worth $847 million.
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are some top stocks that Stanley Druckenmiller has invested in 2023’s second quarter.
Click to continue reading and see Stanley Druckenmiller 13F Portfolio: Top 5 Stocks.
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Disclosure: None. Stanley Druckenmiller 13F Portfolio: Top 15 Stocks is originally published on Insider Monkey.