Day: September 4, 2024

Since the advent of the internet in the mid-1990s, investors have pretty much always had a next-big-thing innovation, technology, or trend to captivate their attention. However, no addressable market has seemingly loomed larger since the arrival of the internet than the current rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

What makes AI so special is the ability for software and systems to learn and evolve over time without human intervention. This means AI-driven software and systems can become more proficient at assigned tasks, as well as grow to learn new skills. On paper, this gives artificial intelligence utility in almost every sector and industry around the globe.

The massive addressable market associated with AI — an estimated $15.7 trillion lift to the global economy by 2030, according to the analysts at PwC — isn’t lost on Wall Street’s top investment minds. However, quarterly Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that billionaire money managers have mixed feelings about the most-popular AI stocks.

In the June-ended quarter, more than a half-dozen billionaire investors were active sellers of the “brains” behind AI-accelerated data centers. But interestingly enough, numerous billionaire asset managers were avid buyers of two other key AI players that have announced or completed a stock split this year.

Data-center hardware kingpins Nvidia and AMD were shown to the door

Although enterprise demand for the graphics processing units (GPUs) that power generative AI solutions, train large language models, and oversee split-second decision-making for AI-driven software and systems, has been off the charts, billionaires haven’t been afraid to ring the register and take profits on the two most-prominent AI-GPU developers: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD).

The June-ended quarter marked the third consecutive quarter that more than a half-dozen billionaires were sellers of Nvidia’s stock. The seven well-known sellers in the latest quarter include (total shares sold in parenthesis):

• Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors (9,282,018 shares)

• David Tepper of Appaloosa (3,730,000 shares)

• Stanley Druckenmiller of Duquesne Family Office (1,545,370 shares)

• Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management (1,360,215 shares)

• Israel Englander of Millennium Management (676,242 shares)

• Steven Cohen of Point72 Asset Management (409,042 shares)

• Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management (96,963 shares)

By some combination of fate and coincidence, AMD also had seven billionaire money managers that sent its shares to the chopping block in the second quarter (total shares sold in parenthesis):

Story continues

• Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management (5,716,366 shares)

• Ole Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global Investors (3,952,088 shares)

• Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors (2,649,937 shares)

• Israel Englander of Millennium Management (977,904 shares)

• Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International (536,689 shares)

• Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management (502,688 shares)

• David Tepper of Appaloosa (260,000 shares)

While profit-taking is certainly one reason we’ve likely witnessed notable selling in Nvidia and AMD from billionaires, historic precedent might be an even bigger catalyst.

For 30 years, numerous can’t-miss technologies, innovations, and trends have come and gone, and not a one has avoided an early innings bubble-bursting event. Investors have a tendency to become wide-eyed with the potential for game-changing technologies, and almost always overlook that it takes time for new innovations to mature and be adopted by consumers and/or businesses.

The simple fact that most companies lack a well-defined game plan for their AI investments is a clear signal that AI euphoria has likely overshot the technology’s current utility.

Competitive pressures are another reason billionaire investors might be headed for the exit with Nvidia and AMD. Nvidia can’t keep up with enterprise demand for its H100 GPU and is liable to lose valuable data center “real estate” with its top four customers (all members of the “Magnificent Seven”) developing in-house AI-GPUs. While AMD can chip away at Nvidia’s monopoly like AI-GPU market share with its substantially cheaper MI300X AI-GPU, the end result of both companies ramping production is less AI-GPU scarcity and, over time, weaker pricing power.

Though billionaires were decisive sellers of the brains behind high-compute data centers, they were clear-cut buyers of two other AI stock-split stocks.

More than a half-dozen billionaires piled into Broadcom

While prominent billionaires were busy dumping shares of Nvidia and AMD during the second quarter, there were piling into AI networking solutions specialist Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), which completed a 10-for-1 forward-stock split in July. To somewhat keep with the theme, a total of seven billionaire investors were buyers of Broadcom stock, including (total shares purchased in parenthesis):

• Ole Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global Investors (2,930,970 shares)

• Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International (2,347,500 shares)

• Israel Englander of Millennium Management (2,096,440 shares)

• Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors (1,880,740 shares)

• David Siegel and John Overdeck of Two Sigma Investments (1,332,230 shares)

• Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management (865,090 shares)

Broadcom made its grand entrance into the AI space with the release of the Jericho3-AI fabric in April 2023. Jericho3 is capable of connecting up to 32,000 GPUs, with a purpose of reducing tail latency and helping businesses maximize the computing capacity of their GPUs.

But in spite of the clear boost Broadcom has received from artificial intelligence, billionaires might be even more impressed with its operating diversity. For instance, it’s one of the leading providers of wireless chips and accessories used in next-generation smartphones. Telecom companies continuing to expand the reach of 5G have lifted demand for Broadcom’s smartphone solutions.

Broadcom has also leaned on acquisitions as a way to expand its ecosystem of products and services and promote cross-selling opportunities. This includes buying information technology management software and solutions provider CA Technologies, gobbling up cybersecurity company Symantec, and paying $69 billion for cloud-based virtualization software provider VMware. The latter will help Broadcom meet the private- and hybrid-cloud needs of businesses.

Having true revenue diversity means that Broadcom would almost certainly fare better than Nvidia and AMD if the AI bubble were to burst, as history suggests it will.

Six billionaire money managers scooped up shares of Super Micro Computer

The other high-flying AI stock-split stock that had billionaires mashing the buy button in the June-ended quarter is rack server and storage solutions provider Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI). Six billionaires opened a position or added to their existing stakes in Super Micro, including (total shares purchased in parenthesis):

• Israel Englander of Millennium Management (553,323 shares)

• Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International (508,814 shares)

• Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors (98,752 shares)

• Steven Cohen of Point72 Asset Management (45,066 shares)

• Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates (15,777 shares)

• Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management (1,040 shares)

On Aug. 6, when Super Micro lifted the hood on its fiscal fourth-quarter operating results, its board announced the approval of a 10-for-1 stock split, which will take effect after the close of trading on Sept. 30.

While investors have been placing a lot of emphasis on the GPUs that make AI-driven software and systems tick, Super Micro Computer is reminding Wall Street just how important AI infrastructure is for enterprise data centers. The company’s customizable rack servers, which incorporate Nvidia’s leading H100 GPU, have been in high demand, as evidenced by the 110% sales growth Super Micro recorded in fiscal 2024 (ended June 30). The midpoint of Super Micro’s sales guidance — $28 billion — for fiscal 2025 implies nearly triple-digit year-over-year sales growth.

The downside for Super Micro Computer is that it’s heavily tied to Nvidia’s fortune. Supply constraints have made it impossible for Nvidia to meet all of its customer’s demands, which means Super Micro likely isn’t reaching its potential.

Moreover, we’ve been here before with Super Micro. This is a company that soared during the initial enterprise cloud-computing boom, only to have orders fail to meet Wall Street’s lofty expectations not long thereafter. If AI needs time to mature as a technology, Super Micro’s stock could give back most of its gains.

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Move Over, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices: Billionaires Are Selling Them and Scooping Up Shares of 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock-Split Stocks Instead was originally published by The Motley Fool

BOSTON, Sept. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arcadia® (arcadia.io), a leading data platform for healthcare, today announced findings from a new study showing 96% of healthcare technology leaders believe effectively leveraging AI provides a competitive edge.¹ Additionally, 33% of surveyed decision-makers view AI as vital today, and that increases to 73% who think AI will be essential in the next five years.¹

The research aligns with market analyses that quantify AI’s potential impact on healthcare. Accenture predicts AI can save the U.S. healthcare economy $150 billion annually by 2026​,² and a modest estimate from McKinsey projects AI can automate 15% of healthcare work hours.³

Arcadia’s research, conducted with The Harris Poll, also revealed how healthcare leaders use AI. 63% say it can analyze large patient data sets to identify trends and create population health intervention strategies, 58% say AI can analyze individual patient data to identify opportunities to improve health outcomes, and 47% say AI can optimize the management and analysis of electronic health records.¹

“Healthcare leaders are thoughtfully preparing to harness the full value of AI in care delivery reform,” said Aneesh Chopra, Arcadia’s Chief Strategy Officer. “As safe, secure data sharing scales in healthcare, technology leaders prioritize data platforms that can organize fragmented patient records into clinically relevant insights at each step of a patient’s journey.”

Need For Health Analytics Platforms to Support Patient Care

To succeed in a new era of innovation, 83% of health tech decision-makers agree that effectively harnessing data helps organizations stay competitive and resilient despite financial and digital transformation forces.¹ Consequently, 84% say their organization’s current priorities are tech-related.¹

Specifically, 44% prioritize an enterprise approach to data and analytics, 41% focus on augmenting decision-making with AI, and 32% aim to simplify their technical ecosystems.¹ Improving the patient experience is a high priority for 40% of respondents, with 35% focused on improving patient outcomes and 29% on bettering patient engagement and care.¹

“CIOs and their teams are setting the stage for an AI-powered revolution in patient care and healthcare operations,” said Michael Meucci, Arcadia’s President and CEO. “Our findings point to strong consensus among healthcare CIOs that a solid data foundation is required to make the AI-enabled future a reality. CIOs also recognize that a human workforce with evolving talent and skills will shape the real-world impact of AI in healthcare.”

Advancing Strategic Goals with AI

Arcadia’s study found that 96% of health tech leaders are confident in adopting AI but feel pressured to act quickly.¹ 82% say the heat comes from data and analytics teams, 78% feel pressure from IT and tech teams, and 73% cite urgency from executive leadership.¹

However, 40% of leaders cite lack of talent as a top challenge for adopting AI, indicating a shift in the talents and skills CIOs expect from their teams.¹ IT leaders surveyed point to increased demand for data-driven decision-making skills (71%), data analysis, machine learning, and systems integration skills (66%), and training and support roles for healthcare staff (59%).¹ 

Evolving Role of Health System CIOs

Healthcare CIOs say their roles also evolve as data and AI play larger roles in their organizations’ strategies. 87% consider themselves a strategy influencer or leader, emphasizing their involvement in setting, refining, and executing business strategy.¹ In contrast, only 13% see themselves as merely strategy implementers.¹

While the modern CIO shifts from execution to strategy, some feel restrained by day-to-day operations. 58% are primarily focused on tactical execution, with an emphasis on the day-to-day over long-term strategy development.¹ Yet, to be effective, respondents say roughly three-fourths of their time should focus on developing and implementing strategy.¹ Foundry’s latest State of the CIO Study supports this sentiment, noting that CIOs’ stature as a strategic business advisor continues to blossom—with 88% of CIOs they surveyed saying their role is becoming more innovation-focused.⁴  

Read Arcadia’s report, “The Healthcare CIO’s Role in the Age of AI,” to discover AI’s transformative potential in healthcare, uncover industry leaders’ key priorities, and explore how CIOs are evolving to become strategic visionaries.

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¹ The Healthcare CIO’s Role in the Age of AI, Arcadia and The Harris Poll, 2024
² AI: Healthcare’s New Nervous System, Accenture, 2020
³ Transforming healthcare with AI: The impact on the workforce and organizations, McKinsey & Company, 2020
⁴ State of the CIO 2024, Foundry, 2024

About Arcadia 

Arcadia helps payers and providers put their data to work so they can transform healthcare. We do that through an interoperable data platform that uses advanced analytics to shape strategies, inform decisions, and facilitate actions. In turn, payers and providers can focus on what matters most — whether that’s patient outcomes, operational efficiencies, or financial performance. We’re trusted by the institutions driving the future of healthcare, including Southwestern Health Resources, Tandigm, Castell, Rush Health, and Beth Israel Lahey Health. To learn how Arcadia is shaping the future of healthcare with innovative solutions that deliver data-driven insights, visit arcadia.io.

Arcadia^® is a registered trademark of Arcadia Solutions, LLC.

Drew Schaar
Arcadia
drew.schaar@arcadia.io

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© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.