Billionaire Jeff Yass Reduced Susquehanna's Stake in Nvidia by 29% and Bought 2 Million Shares of This Other Artificial Intelligence (AI) Semiconductor Stock Instead
Billionaire Jeff Yass, co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, reduced the fund's stake in Nvidia by 29%, selling 5.6 million shares, while increasing its position in Micron Technology by 46%, acquiring 2.2 million shares. This strategic shift reflects concerns over Nvidia's future growth potential amid rising competition and a saturated market, while Micron is well-positioned to benefit from increasing demand for memory and storage solutions in AI applications. Yass's decisions indicate a focus on identifying semiconductor stocks with breakout growth potential.
Jeff Yass is a billionaire investor best known for co-founding Susquehanna International Group (SIG). SIG is a powerhouse fund boasting nearly $60 billion in assets under management.
According to SIG's latest 13F filing, the fund sold approximately 5.6 million shares in semiconductor darling Nvidia (NVDA 0.66%) during the third quarter -- reducing its stake by 29%. At the same time, Yass and his constituents increased SIG's position in Micron Technology (MU -2.56%), scooping up 2.2 million shares and increasing the fund's exposure by 46%.
Below, I'm going to detail why I like this swap and see Yass' decision as a wise choice. Let's dig in.
Why sell Nvidia stock right now?
The table below illustrates SIG's position in Nvidia stock over the past year:
Category | Q3 2023 | Q4 2023 | Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shares owned (in millions) | 43.6 | 31.9 | 72 | 19.5 | 13.9 |
Data source: Hedge Follow.
With the exception of a major purchase during the first quarter, SIG has been a net seller of Nvidia stock over the past 12 months. In particular, the fund has done quite a bit of trimming to its Nvidia stake between the last two quarters.
It's well-known by now that Nvidia is the king of the semiconductor realm. Moreover, with its upcoming next-generation Blackwell GPU architecture on the verge of launching, how does it make sense to sell the stock right now?
NVDA data by YCharts
To me, the chart above says it all. Over the last two years, shares of Nvidia have risen 786% and the company is now the most valuable in the world (as of intra-day Nov. 22).
Simply put, even with the tailwinds from Blackwell and ongoing demand for GPUs, Nvidia stock is highly unlikely to rise by this magnitude again anytime soon (if ever). On top of that, many of Nvidia's own customers including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet, are beginning to build their own chip ware. Candidly, I think the long-term narrative surrounding Nvidia is pretty murky.
Image source: Getty Images.
Why buy Micron stock right now?
The table below illustrates SIG's position in Micron stock over the past year:
Category | Q3 2023 | Q4 2023 | Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shares owned (in millions) | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 4.8 | 6.9 |
Data source: Hedge Follow.
It's interesting that as SIG trimmed its position in Nvidia, the firm has quietly increased its stake in Micron by nearly sevenfold. And in a lot of ways, I think this is actually a pretty savvy move.
Micron's position in the chip market is unique, as the company specializes in memory and storage solutions. Right now, one of the most important variables needed to build large language models (LLMs) and develop generative AI applications is access to data.
However, feeding data into AI models is only one part of the equation. Over time, developing AI-powered products and services is inevitably going to become more sophisticated. As training and inferencing workloads for these models become more demanding, businesses are going to need to increase investment in storage and memory solutions.
Micron's expertise in storage and memory is well-positioned to capitalize on long-term secular tailwinds, driven by rising demand for more efficient AI protocols and increased infrastructure investments.
The bottom line
While I think Nvidia will remain a core pillar supporting the AI movement, my outlook is that its growth is going to slow down sooner than later as alternative chips come to market. As I've expressed several times, I continue to see investing in Nvidia as more of a trade now and less so of a buy-and-hold type of position.
By contrast, I think Micron's chapter in the broader chip story is just beginning. Moreover, given the company's unique position in storage and memory chips, I think Micron is still flying under the radar. At the end of the day, I think Yass and SIG are making the appropriate call by trimming Nvidia and looking to identify alternatives in the semiconductor landscape that are poised for breakout growth.