Amazon.com, Inc., Rackspace Hosting, and Facebook Inc (FB) Propel Billionaire Steve Cohen to 7.5% Q1 Returns

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) is in one of the few segments of the energy sector that has been able to benefit from the falling oil prices plaguing it for the past 9 months, that being oil refinery. Like fellow refiner Tesoro Corp. (NYSE:TSO), which was up by 23.36% during the first quarter, Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) also enjoyed very strong gains during the quarter of 29.47%. It was also by far the best performer of Cohen’s top energy picks, the others being Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) and Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (USA) (NYSE:CNQ). Cohen’s 2.58 million shares of Valero ranked it as his ninth-most valuable long position at $127.50 million. The quantitative hedge fund D E Shaw had large positions in both Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) and Tesoro, scoring big as oil prices have stayed low.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE:RAX) gained 10.21% during the first quarter and stood as Cohen’s second-most valuable long position, with its 4.07 million shares being worth $190.47 million at year’s start. Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE:RAX) has otherwise been a disappointment for investors in recent times, being down nearly 10% over the past three-year period. Despite the gains this year, the provider of cloud storage and other cloud-based services is in fierce competition from other rivals in the cloud space, some of whom are attempting to muscle it out with their financial clout (namely Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)). Nevertheless, Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE:RAX) has firm believers in Clifton S. Robbins’ Blue Harbour Group and billionaire Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners, among others.

Lastly is Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Cohen’s third-most valuable long position with a value of $183.11 million from ownership of 2.35 million shares. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s stock enjoyed a solid first quarter, rising by 5.38%. That performance comes on the heels of strong 2013 and 2014 campaigns for the stock in which it has made gains of 90% and 44% respectively. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) may also be on the cusp of big things with its Oculus Rift VR Headset, which may see release at some point this year. Digi-Capital, a consulting firm, predicts the virtual reality market will be a $150 billion one in just five years, perhaps an overly ambitious estimate but food for thought nonetheless, considering Oculus Rift’s standing in the market (though it hasn’t officially been released, beta versions of the device, which was originally intended primarily for gaming, have been). Billionaire Stephen Mandel is betting big on Facebook, as is Karthik Sarma’s SRS Investment Management.

Disclosure: None