Billionaire David Tepper is one of the most successful hedge fund managers on Wall Street. He founded Appaloosa Management in 1993 and eventually became a self-made billionaire. Over the last few years, he’s returned much of his clients’ funds, so Appaloosa is now primarily his own personal capital.
Since Appaloosa is technically an institutional investor, investing on behalf of others, it’s required to file form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter when it holds more than $100 million in assets. Appaloosa ended 2023 with $5.8 billion in assets under management.
Thanks to those public filings, we can get a glimpse at exactly how Tepper invests his money. And he’s betting big on three artificial intelligence (AI) stocks in 2024. Nearly one-third of his portfolio is tied up in these companies.
Image source: Getty Images.
Meta Platforms (11%)
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is the company behind leading social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. The company boasts nearly 4 billion unique users across its family of apps, which also includes WhatsApp and Messenger. It’s also developing augmented and virtual reality technology within its Reality Labs division.
Meta’s been investing heavily in artificial intelligence for the last few years. That shows up in its massive capital expenditures (capex), which topped $28 billion last year. That’s a pullback from the $32 billion it spent in 2022.
All those capital expenditures are going toward building data centers to train AI algorithms such as its LLaMA large language model, which is now on its third version.
Meta uses its AI algorithms to improve content and advertising recommendations within its Facebook and Instagram’s Feed, Stories, and Reels. The advancements in AI turned Reels from a drag on revenue performance to additive in a shorter time frame than management expected.
What’s more, Meta can apply its generative AI capabilities to the ad-creation process, making it easier for marketers to test new ads on the platform and improve conversions. That boosts total advertisers and the amount they’re…
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