Izzy Englander's Q3 Portfolio Shake-Up: Dumping Tech Giants, Doubling Down on AI and Autonomous Vehicles

When it comes to navigating the stock market, different billionaires play by different rules. While Warren Buffett takes a measured approach with Berkshire Hathaway, prioritizing cash reserves over aggressive trading, hedge fund manager Israel “Izzy” Englander at Millennium Management operates with a far more dynamic trading strategy. His Q3 2024 moves reveal a telling shift: he’s stepping back from some “Magnificent Seven” darlings while aggressively repositioning into others.

The Great Exit: Why Englander’s Hitting the Brakes on Three Tech Titans

Apple experienced the most brutal cut. While Warren Buffett trimmed Berkshire’s Apple stake by 25%, Englander went nuclear—slashing Millennium’s position by a staggering 90.4%. Yet the hedge fund didn’t fully abandon ship, retaining 1.22 million shares valued at approximately $285 million. The timing is curious: did Englander feel Apple’s generative AI rollout was already “priced in”? Interestingly, he actually expanded the fund’s derivative exposure, increasing both call and put options on the iPhone manufacturer.

Amazon saw similarly aggressive pruning, with Millennium offloading 86.9% of its holdings in the e-commerce and cloud services behemoth. This move catches observers off guard given Amazon’s impressive recent gains in profitability and cash flow generation.

Englander’s treatment of Nvidia proved more surgical. Rather than a complete retreat, he reduced the chipmaker stake by roughly 12.6% (1.6 million shares sold), keeping it as his fund’s fourth-largest holding. The rationale likely involves profit-taking—though concerns about delays in Blackwell GPU shipments may have influenced the decision.

The Buying Spree: Where Englander Sees Real Opportunity

The action shifts dramatically when examining Englander’s acquisitions. Microsoft became a major focal point, with Millennium boosting its position by an impressive 51.4% through 1.56 million new share purchases, elevating it to the fund’s third-largest holding. The reasoning is straightforward: Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform remains positioned to capitalize on enterprise AI adoption.

Meta Platforms attracted modest but meaningful attention, with holdings rising 7.6% to 1.34 million shares. Meta’s substantial investments in AI agent development hint at transformative potential that Englander appears ready to back.

The most intriguing Alphabet maneuver involved a split strategy: Englander sold roughly 19% of Class C shares (GOOG ticker) while simultaneously increasing Class A shares (GOOGL ticker) by 6.8%. This nuanced repositioning within the same company suggests selective exposure rather than broad retreat.

Tesla rounded out the acquisition list, with Englander increasing exposure by 51.3% in a relatively smaller position. Both Tesla and Alphabet’s Waymo division could benefit materially from anticipated regulatory relaxation around autonomous vehicle deployment in 2025.

Reading the Tea Leaves: What This Portfolio Surgery Actually Signals

Englander’s Q3 repositioning tells a coherent story about conviction and timing. The aggressive exits from Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia—all marquee holdings—suggest he believes these valuations had reached peak enthusiasm. Conversely, his substantial additions to Microsoft, Meta, and Tesla point toward where he sees durable competitive advantages.

The common thread connecting his new positions: artificial intelligence as the driving force. Microsoft and Google each command leading cloud infrastructure platforms essential for enterprise AI deployment. Meta’s heavy AI investment spending signals conviction about agents as a game-changing technology. Meanwhile, Tesla and Waymo represent the autonomous vehicle opportunity—a sector potentially on the cusp of major regulatory unlock. These aren’t speculative bets but calculated allocations to companies positioned at tech’s next major inflection points.

For investors tracking Izzy Englander’s moves, the message is clear: the era of simply holding “Magnificent Seven” stocks appears over. Real alpha comes from discerning which of these giants will actually lead in AI’s next phase—and which have already captured their upside.