During a period of increasing interest in artificial intelligence development and a 10.8 percent rise in the Nasdaq 100 technology index over the past three months, the top investors were massively selling stocks, primarily from the technology sector, which accounted for 1.066 percent of their total portfolio.
Analysis of net stock purchases (total purchases minus sales) from various sectors shows that in the last quarter of 2023, super investors were selling stocks from nearly all sectors, totaling 2.9 percent of the value of all assets held. The sale of technology company stocks seems to continue a trend noticed already in the third quarter of 2023.
Despite the overall trend of selling technology company stocks, the most frequently purchased company was Alphabet (Google), whose stocks were acquired by eight super investors. Microsoft ranked second, followed by Amazon and Visa.
Warren Buffett, known for his conservative approach to long-term investing, made significant changes to his portfolio.
The most noticeable was the sale of 77 percent of shares in HP Inc., a computer and printer manufacturer, which accounted for 0.7 percent of the total portfolio value. The second-largest transaction was the purchase of Chevron Corp. shares, a giant in the oil industry, which increased the portfolio by 0.68 percent. The third-place adjustment was in Apple shares, Buffett's largest position in the portfolio, affecting the fund's portfolio by 0.55 percent.
Michael Burry, known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis and famous for frequent changes in his investment portfolio, made several significant moves. At the end of the third quarter of the previous year, Burry opened positions on the decline of the semiconductor sector.
He used options to bet on declines in the value of the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which at that time accounted for 47.86 percent of his portfolio's value, and purchased options on the decline of Booking Holdings Inc. shares, representing 7.79 percent of the portfolio's value.
However, in the last quarter of 2023, he closed these positions at a loss. It seems that he has thus changed his approach significantly, making numerous new purchases for his portfolio and completely selling off his four largest previous positions.
Burry completely sold shares in:
Stellantis N.V., a global car manufacturer that owns brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, and Dodge, with these shares accounting for 17.43 percent of the total stock portfolio value;
Euronav NV, one of the world's largest tanker shipping companies, engaged in the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products, with a total value of 9.36 percent of the entire portfolio;
Hudson Pacific Properties, a real estate investment firm (REIT) specializing in owning, managing, developing, and acquiring office and media properties mainly on the West Coast of the United States;
Crescent Energy, an American energy company mainly operating in the oil and natural gas extraction and production sector, with a total size of 5.76 percent of the entire portfolio.
Michael Burry's portfolio has changed drastically from what we could observe throughout 2023 when he repeatedly attempted to catch a reversal of the upward trend in the broader stock market.
However, it seems that after many months of fighting the bull market, he decided to reconcile with the prevailing market trend by betting on companies mainly from the consumer goods sector (which together account for 29.4 percent of the portfolio), such as Chinese Alibaba and JD.com or American Amazon.
When analyzing the transactions made by super investors in the last quarter, it should be noted that many of these investments were made over two months ago. This may affect the timeliness of the investment market situation.
Interestingly, during a period dominated by discussions of successes and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, leading investors focused on seeking investment opportunities in other areas.
16.02.2024
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