Investors pummeled by tech in 2022 make new bets on sector in second quarter

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Several investment managers whose performance was pummeled when technology stocks skidded lower last year put fresh money into the handful of companies that are pulling the stock market higher this year, new regulatory filings show.

Glen Kacher’s Light Street Capital, one of a handful of hedge funds that posted double-digit losses last year, reported a new position in retailer Amazon.com in the second quarter and said it boosted its stake in technology company Meta Platforms by 27%, according to a new regulatory filing.

Amazon’s share price has gained 63% since January while Meta’s has climbed 144.5%.

Coatue Management, founded by Philippe Laffont, increased its position in Amazon by 125% and raised its holdings of Microsoft stock by 67%, a filing showed.

Tiger Global Management increased its holding of Nvidia , whose semiconductors back artificial-intelligence systems and whose market value topped $1 trillion in June, by 1,332%, the filing showed.

Investment managers must disclose what they hold in U.S. stocks at the end of each quarter and report that information to the Securities and Exchange Commission 45 days after the end of the quarter. The deadline for so-called 13-F filings for the second quarter is on Monday.

2023 has been a better year for investors, with the S&P 500 stock market index up 16% in the first half after a 20% drop in full-year 2022. But only a small number of companies – the so-called magnificent seven – fueled the rally.

IPhone maker Apple, retailer Amazon, electric vehicle maker Tesla, chip maker Nvidia and technology company Meta are among the group that accounted for 73% of the market’s gains.

13-F filings are backward-looking but are closely watched by investors for trends. Second-quarter filings suggest many hedge funds ramped up their bets on technology stocks that suffered last year.

But not all investors were of one mind on these technology names. Light Street, for example, cut its Nvidia holding by 22% while Coatue cut it by 6%.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York Editing by Matthew Lewis)