👨‍💼 What Stocks Are Super Investors Buying?

The 13F filings for Q1 2023 have been released, offering a glimpse into the portfolios and activity of the most prominent “super investors". These quarterly reports provide insight into the moves of renowned investors like Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, Bill Ackman, Bill Gates, and more.

The 13F filings are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for investment managers who manage over $100 million in qualifying assets, allowing investors and analysts to track the positions and strategies of these influential market players.

Overall the biggest buying activity was in tech, with Dataroma summarizing the top 10 buys among the 71 super investors:

1. $GOOGL - Alphabet Voting

2. $AMZN - Amazon

3. $GOOG - Alphabet Non-Voting

4. $MSFT - Microsoft

5. $META - Meta

6. $INTU - Intuit

7. $CRM - Salesforce

8. $PYPL - PayPal Holdings

9. $COF - Capital One

10. $GEHC - GE HealthCare

👀 Other Key Moves We’re Keeping An Eye On

🏦 Michael Burry's Regional Bank Investments

Despite industry turmoil, famous “Big Short” investor Michael Burry added $23.4 million worth of regional bank stocks, including PacWest Bancorp, Western Alliance Bancorporation, New York Community Bancorp, Capital One, and Wells Fargo. Warren Buffett also bought the dip in U.S. banks, with a new position in Capital One and increased holdings of Bank of America and Citigroup.

💰 Big Bets on Artificial Intelligence

Superinvestors Stanley Druckenmiller and David Tepper made substantial investments in AI-related stocks, such as Nvidia and Microsoft, signaling confidence in the potential of artificial intelligence to drive innovation and generate market returns.

🐐 Warren Buffet’s Moves

Berkshire Hathaway made notable changes to its portfolio, with new positions in Capital One Financial and alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. Buffett's also divested from four stocks, including Bank of New York Melon, US Bancorp, Taiwan Semiconductor, and furniture retailer RH. Buffett increased holdings in Apple and Occidental Petroleum but reduced stakes in Chevron and several other companies.

👀 Bill Ackman Bets Big on Google

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman and his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital acquired over 10 million shares of Alphabet, bringing it to over 10% of Pershing's portfolio. Alphabet has boosted Pershing’s returns, returning 38% YTD compared to Pershing's overall return of -1.71%.

🍔 Wendy’s is Revolutionizing Fast Food

Wendy's was in the news this week for some interesting new technological advancements it claims will improve the customer experience:

💬 Wendy's and Google's AI Chatbot

Last week, Wendy's joined forces with Google to introduce an advanced AI chatbot for its drive-through service, aiming to streamline the ordering process and enhance customer satisfaction.

The chatbot, trained to understand various customer orders, was deployed at Wendy's location in Columbus, Ohio. Leveraging Google's language model, Wendy's customized the chatbot to comprehend unique terms, providing a conversational and seamless customer experience.

🤖 Wendy's Tests Food Delivery by Robots

In another exciting move, Wendy's is piloting an underground delivery system in partnership with Pipedream, an autonomous logistics company.

This system will utilize robots traveling through tunnels to transport online food orders from Wendy's kitchens to designated "Instant Pickup portals" located alongside parking spaces. Customers can confirm their orders through the portal's speaker, after which an autonomous robot will navigate the tunnels to deliver the food directly to the customer's parking space.

😳 Alibaba Spinning Off $12B Cloud Division

Alibaba has decided to spin off its cloud division amid an industry-wide slowdown. The company has faced competition in cloud computing, particularly with American companies like Amazon and Microsoft expanding their cloud businesses globally.

The move comes after Amazon announced plans to invest $12.7 billion in its cloud business in India, highlighting the strategic importance of the cloud industry in key overseas markets.

Alibaba's cloud division has been a key growth driver for the company, but it faced a 2% revenue decline in the recent quarter amid soft corporate demand and excess capacity. This strategic decision opens up opportunities for potential external financing and allows the cloud division to chart its own growth trajectory independently.

The move aligns with Alibaba's broader restructuring plans following a regulatory crackdown on China's tech industry. The company aims to create separate units for various business segments, with most of them seeking outside funding and eventually going public.

🎙 Top Discussions This Week

🗞️ What else you might’ve missed:

• Walmart beat Q1 earnings & sales growth expectations.

• Netflix claims its ad-supported tier is showing signs of life.

• Apple reportedly slashed its headset’s sales forecasts.

• Tesla held its annual shareholder meeting.

• Target beat Q1 earnings despite digital sales falling.

• Pfizer reportedly sold $31B of debt in a bond sale.