Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Street
The Street
Business
Dan Weil

Famed Investor Druckenmiller Dumps Amazon

Stanley Druckenmiller made a big name for himself when he managed money for hedge fund legend George Soros from 1988-2000.

Druckenmiller is now head of Duquesne Family Office, which manages his personal wealth. Forbes estimates his net worth at $6.8 billion. Given Druckenmiller’s successful track record, investors carefully watch his moves.

And he made some interesting investment decisions in the second quarter, as revealed by a regulatory filing.

Duquesne dumped its entire position of 60,997 Amazon (AMZN) shares in the quarter. That was valued at $9.9 million at the beginning of the second quarter and $6.5 million at the end of the quarter. The holding would have been valued at $8.7 million Aug. 17.

Druckenmiller sold 279,520 shares of Microsoft (MSFT). That was valued at $86.2 million at the beginning of the second quarter and $71.8 million at the end of the quarter. Those shares would have been valued at $81.9 million Aug. 17.

Microsoft still represented Duquesne’s second biggest holding as of June 30: 740,785 shares, valued at $217.1 million Aug. 17. The sale reduced Duquesne’s Microsoft share count by 27%.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Coupang, Chevron, Lilly

Duquesne’s largest holding as of June 30 was Coupang (CPNG), a South Korean e-commerce company. Druckenmiller owned 19,434,307 shares as of June 30, valued at $348.3 million Aug. 17.

During the second quarter, Duquesne unloaded 134,445 shares, or 14%, of its Chevron (CVX) holding. Those shares were valued at $21.9 million at the beginning of the second quarter and $19.5 million at the end of the quarter.

The sold shares would have been valued at $21.2 million Aug. 17. Chevron was Druckenmiller’s third biggest holding as of June 30, with 830,435 shares, valued at $131.1 million Aug. 17.

Duquesne established a new position in Eli Lilly (LLY) during the second quarter, purchasing 297,150 shares. That made it Druckenmiller’s third largest position in dollar terms.

It was valued at $85.1 million at the beginning of the second quarter, $96.3 million at the end of the quarter, and $94.6 million Aug. 17.

Morningstar’s Take on Amazon

“Amazon reported good second-quarter top-line and bottom-line results, … and provided an encouraging revenue outlook for the third quarter,” Morningstar analyst Dan Romanoff wrote in a commentary.

While Amazon’s cloud business performed well, “the more important takeaway this quarter is that retail-related businesses, especially third-party seller services, are coming back,” he said.

Morningstar’s Take on Microsoft

In its latest earnings report, Microsoft posted revenue and earnings-per-share results just below the low end of guidance, Romanoff wrote in a commentary.

“However, we believe that Microsoft's fundamentals remain sound, as the company's performance was hurt mainly by things beyond its control, such as a stronger U.S. dollar, persistent supply chain issues, further scaling back in Russia, and general macroeconomic pressures.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.