Billionaire Philippe Laffont Trimmed 8 of His Fund's Top 10 Positions Last Quarter. Here's What the Other 2 Have in Common.

1 hour ago 2

Adam Levy, The Motley Fool

Sat, May 23, 2026 astatine 3:20 PM CDT 5 min read

Philippe Laffont is 1 of the smartest growth-stock investors successful the market. His hedge money Coatue Management oversees a $33 cardinal nationalist equity portfolio with adjacent much superior held successful backstage companies.

Laffont often shifts his portfolio successful effect to macro factors, and past 4th saw a important tilt. He sold disconnected shares successful 8 of the fund's 10 largest positions portion adding to conscionable 2 of them.

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There's a precise notable commonality betwixt the 2 positions Laffont added to past quarter. It's besides echoed successful a mates of different portfolio additions.

A brace  of dice with the words bargain  and merchantability   connected  their sides.

Image source: Getty Images.

Investing successful the instauration of AI infrastructure

At the commencement of the year, Laffont's apical 10 holdings were arsenic follows:

  1. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM)

  2. Microsoft

  3. Meta Platforms

  4. Amazon

  5. GE Vernova

  6. Alphabet

  7. Constellation Energy

  8. Broadcom

  9. Nvidia

  10. Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX)

The lone 2 connected the database helium added to were Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) and Lam Research. TSMC is the largest declaration semiconductor shaper successful the world, and Lam Research is simply a starring supplier of wafer fabrication equipment. The trading enactment astatine Coatue shows a wide penchant to put further up the AI computing proviso chain.

The immense spending by hyperscalers similar Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Alphabet is transferring important currency travel from unreality computing companies to manufacturing companies. That creates important uncertainty for the unreality computing giants betting connected the future, but it creates a tremendous accidental for companies similar TSMC and Lam Research. They've been capable to rise pricing arsenic request soars.

The aforesaid is existent of 2 caller additions to Coatue's portfolio past quarter: ASML Holding and Micron Technology.

Microsoft precocious shared expectations that its superior expenditures (capex) volition ascent to $190 cardinal for the calendar year, with a marked acceleration successful the 2nd half. The different hyperscalers person besides shared increasing budgets successful capex. Laffont expects budgets to support increasing twelvemonth aft twelvemonth arsenic a effect of AI innovations specified arsenic agentic capabilities. That could support their net multiples little for an extended period.

Meanwhile, companies similar TSMC and Lam Research are seeing fantabulous gross maturation and borderline enlargement portion generating important escaped currency flow.

It's worthy noting that Coatue besides sold chipmakers specified arsenic Nvidia and Broadcom. These companies are stuck betwixt the manufacturers and the hyperscalers. Both are reliant connected TSMC to manufacture their chips, arsenic its leading-edge exertion and standard marque them the lone viable spouse to conscionable the demands of their hyperscaler customers.

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