Billionaire DE Shaw’s Top 10 Stock Picks

Published October 11, 2021 at 1:32 pm EDT Updated September 7, 2026 at 1:39 pm EDT

In this article, we discuss billionaire DE Shaw’s top 10 stock picks.

Dr. David E. Shaw launched DE Shaw with $28 million in 1988. This New York City-based hedge fund is run by an executive committee while Dr. Shaw is committed to his role as the leading scientist at D. E. Shaw Research. DE Shaw earned his doctorate in 1980 from Stanford. In 1994, President Clinton appointed him to a position on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Some of the main sectors DE Shaw focuses its investments on include Services, Technology, Healthcare, Financial, Consumer Goods, and Materials. The hedge fund’s 13F portfolio has over $115 billion in managed securities, as of June 30, 2021.

Some of the top stocks in the investment portfolio of DE Shaw at the end of the second quarter of 2021 were Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), among others discussed in detail below. The top five holdings comprise around 4.24% of the portfolio. The total value of the holdings is up 1.12% when compared to the first quarter of the year.

Billionaire DE Shaw's Top 10 Stock Picks

David E. Shaw of D.E. Shaw

Our Methodology

With this context in mind, here is our list of billionaire DE Shaw’s top 10 stock picks. Data from the 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey was also used to gauge hedge fund sentiment around each stock.

Why should we pay attention to DE Shaw’s stock picks? Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 86 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and July 2021, our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 186.1%, vs. 100.1% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by 86 percentage points (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.

Billionaire DE Shaw’s Top 10 Stock Picks

10. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $674.2 million

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.58%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55

In the second quarter of 2021, DE Shaw held 45 million shares in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) worth $674 million, constituting 0.58% of the 13F portfolio.

On July 16, BofA set Ford Motor Company’s price target $18, just barely above the past target of $17, keeping a Buy rating. The company achieved an EPS of $0.13 in Q2 2021 compared to the estimated $0.03.

During the second quarter, 55 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the motor company worth $2.1 billion.

9. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $677.2 million

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.58%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 112

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) specializes in the production of movies and other entertainment, notably the Marvel and Star Wars franchises respectively. The Walt Disney Company was launched in 1923 and is situated in Burbank, California. Latest filings by DE Shaw state that the hedge fund owned 3.85 million shares in the firm at the end of the second quarter, with a worth of $677 million, representing 0.58% of the portfolio.

RBC Capital set The Walt Disney Company’s target price to $210 from $202, with a reinforced Outperform rating on August 13.

On September 26, The Walt Disney Company’s latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, topped the weekly box office, netting $13 million in sales.

By June 30, 112 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the entertainment company worth $10.8 billion.

Here is what RiverPark Funds has to say about The Walt Disney Company in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“DIS shares declined for the quarter, taking a pause after a big fourth quarter and first quarter stock price advance, as Disney+ subscriber numbers were disappointing to investors. Disney+, the company’s DTC streaming business, had blown past previous subscriber projections, having gone from zero to 104 million in 17 months, but investors were now expecting 109 million subscribers. Management still expects significant continued growth to 230-260 million subscribers in 2024.

DIS is blessed with a deep library of unique content that includes both live sports (providing large, non-time shifted audiences) and incomparable brands including Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm, as well as the ABC network. The company also has a wealth of upcoming new content, expecting over 100 original titles per year, including two new Star Wars spin-off series, 10 Star Wars films, 10 Marvel films, 15 Disney and Pixar films and 15 Disney and Pixar series.

Now that the disruption in its theme park, cruise and theatrical businesses appears to be coming to an end, we believe that Disney is among the best-positioned media companies in the new landscape to combine multi-channel and DTC distribution. We also note that DIS has an extremely strong balance sheet and a growing pool of free cash flow to be used both to return to shareholders and to invest in future opportunities.”

8. Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $706 million

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.6%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64

Officialized in 2010 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) rests at the eighth spot on our list of billionaire DE Shaw’s top 10 stock picks. The firm offers a camera-based communication application. During the second quarter, DE Shaw held 10.46 million shares in the social media corporation valued at $706 million.

During the second financial quarter, 64 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Snap Inc. worth $5.4 billion.

Here is what RiverPark Funds has to say about Snap Inc. in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“Snap shares were a top contributor for the quarter as well, also driven by strong first quarter results. The company reported accelerating revenue growth of 66% for the period (up from 62% fourth quarter growth), driven by user growth of 22%, and a 36% expansion in average revenue per user (ARPU). The company also guided to stronger-than-expected and accelerating 81%-85% revenue growth for second quarter 2021. Adjusted EBITDA improved by $79 million year over year for a break-even margin, up 1,800 basis points, and free cash flow improved dramatically, turning positive for the period to $126 million. Snap also continued to roll-out products that should help drive further expansion in user growth and ARPU, including Spotlight, a TikTok-like experience, with more than 125 million Snapchatters using it during March, and original programming starring Ryan Reynolds.

With TTM of $2.8 billion in revenue and an ARPU that is about 1/2 that of Twitter and 1/3 that of Facebook, we believe Snap has a long runway for both revenue growth and expanded profitability as it improves its platform functionality, grows its audience, and continues to advance its monetization.”

7. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $766.6 million

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.66%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71

Ranking seventh on our list of billionaire DE Shaw’s top 10 stock picks, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) owns a chain of hypermarkets around the United States. Walmart Inc. was incorporated in 1945 and is operated in Bentonville, Arkansas.

As of the second quarter of 2021, 71 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the company valued at $8 billion.

6. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $840.3 million

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.72%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72

In the second quarter of 2021, DE Shaw held 5.879 million shares in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) worth $840 million.

On October 1, investment firm Jefferies set Qualcomm’s price target at $137, changing the stock’s rating to Hold. The technological firm achieved an EPS of $1.90 in Q2 2021, beating its $1.67 estimate, with a $7.94 billion revenue, just short of the first quarter’s $8.24 billion.

During Q2 2021, 72 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the company worth $4 billion versus 73 hedge funds with $2.77 billion worth of stakes in the previous quarter.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about QUALCOMM Incorporated in its Q1 2021 investor letter:

“Within IT, we have also increased exposure to a cyclical semiconductor industry currently working through a severe supply shortage due to several years of capacity reductions, COVID-19 shutdowns and one-off production delays as well as demand resilience in areas like autos and smartphones. The main risk for semiconductors is short-term revenue pressure until capacity catches up with demand, which hurt wireless chipmaker Qualcomm. Looking past current constraints, we expect the industry to see a strong second half and solid growth in 2022.”

5. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $970.7 million

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.83%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 190

Initiated in 1998, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) finds itself in the fifth position on the list of billionaire DE Shaw’s top 10 stock picks.

Jefferies set Alphabet Inc.’s price target to $3,325 following the previous $3150, reiterating its Buy rating on September 17.

In Q2 2021, 190 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Alphabet Inc. totaling $26.8 billion, while 185 hedge funds held $24.6 billion in stakes until March 30.

Here is what Mawer Investment Management has to say about Alphabet Inc. in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“Many higher growth companies reported strong results amid the pick-up in broad economic activity including Alphabet. These higher growth companies tend to have increased sensitivity to a change in discount rates and were supported as long-term interest rates stabilized over the period.”

4. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $1.1 billion

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 0.94%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

Originated in 2003 and spearheaded in Palo Alto, California, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) cements itself as fourth on our list of billionaire DE Shaw’s top 10 stock picks according to analysts. The firm operates within the automobile industry.

By June 30, 60 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the company worth $9.3 billion.

Here is what Worm Capital has to say about Tesla, Inc. in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“Tesla underperformed in the quarter, but we maintain our high conviction in the long-term thesis on each business model. Much like art or writing, investment research is a continuous process—it never really ends. Prices can move in either direction in any given quarter, but our advantage often comes from knowing the businesses so well that short-term fluctuations in pricing shouldn’t affect our decision-making. On high conviction positions, this patience is often rewarded, which is why research is so valuable to our process…

..Tesla is in a class of its own. What many in the market seem to (still) not understand is that Tesla is not a car company so much as a complex manufacturing firm—with significant recurring software potential—growing, in our view, at a targeted rate of 50-100% YoY over the next several years. Unlike any other automotive firm in existence today, Tesla alone is a vertically integrated hardware and software business developing state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques that will revolutionize the auto industry (i.e. its Giga Presses, 4680 cells, etc.). It is a generational company and we anticipate it will eventually be the largest company in the world. Many of the conventional narratives around competition displacing Tesla’s lead are fundamentally flawed, and the many headlines surrounding Tesla’s approach to autonomy are frustratingly superficial. (As an aside, we highly recommend watching Andrej Karpathy’s, Tesla’s head of AI, his recent presentation from June: “Tesla details its self-driving Supercomputer that will bring in the Dojo era”)”

3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $1.3 billion

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 1.11%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 271

New indications by DE Shaw state that the hedge fund owned 374 thousand shares in the firm at the end of the second quarter, with a worth of $1.288 billion, amounting to 1.11% of the portfolio, increasing the fund’s stakes in the company by 11%.

Revenue of Amazon.com, Inc. was $113 billion, in contrast to the first quarter’s $108.52 billion.

During the second quarter, 271 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the multinational worth $60.5 billion while there were 243 hedge funds with $50.4 billion worth of stakes in the previous quarter.

Here is what L1 Capital has to say about Amazon.com, Inc. in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“Amazon flipped from being the largest detractor from portfolio performance in the March 2021 quarter, to one of the leading contributors in the June 2021 quarter. We took advantage of negative near-term sentiment in the March 2021 quarter to add to our Amazon investment. We continue to view Amazon as one of the best positioned businesses globally, with its share price still not reflecting fair value.”

2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $1.6 billion

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 1.36%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 238

As of the second quarter, 238 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the company worth $62.5 billion while 251 hedge funds were interested in the tech company with a stake of $58.9 billion in the previous quarter.

In the Q2 2021 Investor Letter, Baron Opportunity highlighted MSFT. Here is what the fund said:

“Shares of Microsoft Corporation, a cloud-software leader and provider of software productivity tools and infrastructure, rose during the quarter following a strong earnings report highlighting solid demand for its broad product stack and continued momentum migrating its business to the cloud. Microsoft was a top contributor in the period because it trades at reasonable free cash flow and earnings valuations, has cloud and digital transformation tailwinds at its back, reported a solid March quarter, and beat Street expectations by a wide margin. Microsoft’s results continued to be strong across the board, with Azure cloud computing revenues up 46% in constantcurrency (“cc”) terms and commercial cloud bookings growth of 38% cc, the best in years. Microsoft also reported robust profitability growth, with operating income expanding 31% and GAAP earnings up 45%. We believe the company is well positioned for continued solid growth and profitability through market share gains as more companies look to transform and digitize their businesses as they move operations to the cloud.”

1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DE Shaw’s Stake Value: $2.4 billion

Percentage of DE Shaw’s 13F Portfolio: 2.03%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 138

Apple Inc. is the world’s largest company by market capitalization, and it engages in the production of smartphones and computers under the iPhone and Mac brands.

As of the second quarter, 138 hedge funds out of the 873 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Apple Inc. worth $145.5 billion versus 127 hedge funds with $131 billion worth of stakes in the previous quarter.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about Apple Inc. in its Q1 2021 investor letter:

“As we actively manage holdings and position sizes, we look to regularly recycle capital into more compelling opportunities. Maintaining our valuation discipline, we sharply reduced our position in Apple, whose shares more than doubled following our initial purchase in mid-2019 with an earnings multiple rising from the low-to-mid teens to nearly 30x.”

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