Billionaire David Tepper says the current market cycle leaves little choice for major funds but to stay invested in the AI story.
In a Squawk Box interview, the Appaloosa founder says he’s uneasy with valuations but still sees powerful structural drivers that make certain trades unavoidable.
Tepper notes that momentum in AI stocks leaves little choice for major funds but to allocate capital to leading names in the sector.
“We have a big AI book. Is there any way not to be? No… I mean, if you look at our 13F filings, I mean, we’re big in the energy names there. We were pretty early there. We do own NVIDIA. We own some of the other AI-related stocks.”
Appaloosa’s latest 13F shows the breadth of those bets. Top holdings include Alibaba Group (BABA) valued at about $801 million and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) at $764 million. Other heavyweights tied to AI and digital infrastructure include Amazon (AMZN) at $592 million, Nvidia (NVDA) at $276 million, Alphabet (GOOG) at $266 million, and Microsoft (MSFT) at $248 million.
The fund also holds positions in Meta Platforms (META) worth about $295 million, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) at $232 million, and Micron Technology (MU) at $101 million — all key beneficiaries of AI-driven demand for chips and cloud infrastructure. Smaller allocations include Intel (INTC) at $179 million, Lyft (LYFT) at $126 million, and Deutsche Bank (DBK) at $117 million.
Tepper also says he actively trades around Nvidia rather than holding it consistently at the same weight.
“I haven’t held it all the way. I do own Nvidia, but I go back and forth and back and forth a little bit because I will trade a little bit. We’ve always had some Nvidia position, but not the same size.”
Other asset managers and hedge fund giants also have massive positions in AI-related stocks. BlackRock holds about $1.135 trillion worth of AI names. Meanwhile, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller has deployed more than $256.43 billion across Microsoft, Broadcom, and Entegris through his Duquesne Family Office.