Steve Cohen’s Point72 made a striking move in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) during the second quarter, increasing its position by 467% to 224,800 shares. The timing is interesting because Belden is beginning to look less like a sleepy cable company and more like an overlooked supplier to the AI infrastructure buildout.
Hyperscaler Orders Are Starting to Matter
On July 30, Belden said it had booked about $40 million of hyperscaler orders in Q2, including a roughly $20 million contract with a Tier-1 hyperscaler for high-density fiber connectivity inside an AI data center. The order is already in production, with deliveries expected over multiple quarters.
Management said the hyperscaler business has grown to more than a $100 million annualized run rate, while its broader data center and AI infrastructure business, excluding RUCKUS Networks, is running at roughly $175 million or more.
Belden generated $750 million of Q2 revenue, up 12% year over year, while orders rose 19% to a record $836 million. Hyperscaler sales are still small compared with companywide revenue, but they are now large enough to become a meaningful growth driver if the current order pace continues.
The Short Case Has Real Ammunition
Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) completed its RUCKUS Networks acquisition on July 1, and management expects net leverage to rise to roughly 3.9 times adjusted EBITDA by the end of Q3. Integration costs and unfavorable near-term mix are also expected to limit margin expansion.
That makes the AI story less forgiving. Belden is taking on leverage at the same time investors are starting to assign more value to a hyperscaler business that remains relatively young. If data center orders turn lumpy or RUCKUS takes longer to integrate, the company could be left with more debt and less growth than investors expect.
Short sellers are clearly willing to take that risk. As of July 31, 3.49 million shares were sold short, equal to 9.03% of public float, up 17.1% from the prior report, with 5.9 days to cover.
Hedge Funds Are Divided
Insider Monkey’s database showed 31 hedge fund portfolios held BDC at the end of Q2 2026, down from 33 in Q1 2026. The decline came even as some individual managers increased their exposure sharply. Arrowstreet Capital increased its stake 141%, in addition to Point72’s position with 467% growth.
The Bottom Line
Tier-1 hyperscaler wins and accelerating order activity give the data center business enough substance to change the growth profile if momentum holds. The leverage and elevated short interest deserve respect, but the AI opportunity is becoming too large to dismiss as incidental for Belden.
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