The ever-changing landscape of the tech investment world, where today’s darling can quickly become tomorrow’s pariah. But don’t tell that to Stanley Druckenmiller, the famed investor who’s been as bearish as a grumpy Kodiak on the market, yet still believes that artificial intelligence (AI) companies might just weather the storm in the face of a looming economic downturn.
In a recent convo with Bloomberg, Druckenmiller harkened back to the days of yore (the 1970s, to be precise), when the market experienced a hard landing, but chemicals and oils still managed to thrive. It appears that Druck is channeling that same vibe for the AI sector, noting that it has been dominating his long portfolio over the past five months.
Let’s take a gander at some of the moves he’s been making, shall we? In the first quarter, Druckenmiller cozied up to Microsoft and IQVIA Holdings, now both comfortably nestled among the top ten holdings of his equity portfolio. And it’s no wonder why Microsoft is the majority investor in OpenAI, the new kid on the block with its ChatGPT app, while IQVIA is a healthcare technology company harnessing the power of AI for research and commercial purposes.
But wait, there’s more! Since Q4 2022, Druck has been riding the Nvidia wave, and it’s now the second largest position in his portfolio at a not-so-shabby 9.5%, according to a 13F filing. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the 13F represents a mere ~$2 billion of Druckenmiller’s assets, which is just a drop in the bucket when you consider it’s only an estimated 20% of his net worth, and doesn’t even include short positions and derivatives.
So, what does the future hold for Druck’s love affair with Nvidia? While he’s not exactly ready to put a ring on it, he did mention that he could see himself owning the stock for several years. After all, he’s no stranger to the transformative power of technology, and if AI is poised to be as revolutionary as the internet, well, who can blame him for wanting to hitch his wagon to that star?
