Today I would like to introduce you to the three largest stock positions in the portfolio of top investor David Tepper.

With an estimated net worth of almost 20.6 billion US dollars (according to Forbes), Tepper is one of the most successful fund managers on Wall Street.

The career of the now 59-year-old manager, from a middle-class family in Pittsburgh, started quite unspectacularly. He studied economics at the university of his hometown and began his professional career in 1980 as a credit analyst at a bank. But he did not feel comfortable there and continued his education at Carnegie Mellon University, where he obtained his master’s degree.

But after gaining some industry experience, Tepper started at the New York investment bank Goldman Sachs in 1985, where he had a textbook career rise. Just half a year after joining as a credit analyst, Tepper headed the trading desk for high-yield securities. After Tepper had been dealing with distressed companies at the investment bank for eight years, he founded his own hedge fund (Appaloosa Management) in 1993.

Today, Tepper focuses his value-oriented investment approach on quality companies, which he weights relatively highly (currently „only“ 32 stocks in the portfolio).

His three largest stock positions are as follows:

Metas The largest position with a portfolio weighting of 11.5% is the Metas stock. Currently, Tepper holds a stock package worth around 585 million dollars in the company. The fund manager knows the company like the back of his hand. Tepper bought his first Metas shares already in the first quarter of 2014. In the last quarter, Tepper increased the position by another 29.7%.

Business with the social networking giant has been going well lately: Meta has exceeded the sales expectations for the third quarter. The social media platforms Facebook and Instagram have increasingly attracted advertisers. Revenues in the quarter ended in September rose to $34.15 billion (+23%). Analysts had only expected revenue of $33.56 billion. At the same time, the company recorded a 7% increase in daily active users. As a result, profit rose 163% year-on-year to $11.6 billion.

Microsoft The second largest position with a portfolio weighting of 10.2% is the Microsoft stock, after Tepper recently increased the position by 31.8%. The Microsoft stock is also no stranger to Tepper. His first shares were collected by the fund manager in the third quarter of 2009. In the meantime, the fund manager holds a stock package worth 516 million dollars in the company.

The technology icon increased revenues in the last quarter by 13% to $56.5 billion. The Intelligent Cloud business from Microsoft remains the revenue driver with $24.3 billion – that’s an increase of 19% year-on-year. Net income was $22.3 billion and 27% more than in the same period last year. Earnings per share were $2.99.

Amazon                                                               The third largest position in David Tepper’s portfolio is Amazon’s stock. Currently, the investor has invested 9.4% of his total managed funds in the online giant. Tepper has been invested in Amazon since the first quarter of 2019. In the meantime, Tepper holds a stock package worth 476 million dollars in the company after his recent purchases in the last quarter (+18%).

In the third quarter, Amazon increased total sales by 13% to $143.1 billion. Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud business, generated revenues of $23.1 billion (+12%). Meanwhile, net income rose from $2.87 billion in the same period last year to $9.9 billion. The result was positively influenced by an increase in value of $1.2 billion in the stake in electric car manufacturer Rivian. In the last quarters, the share in the Tesla rival had repeatedly caused write-downs.