Billionaire Stephen Mandel is Betting Big on Internet and Tech Stocks

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

 – Number of shares owned by Lone Pine Capital as of March 31: 1.99 Million

 – Value of Lone Pine Capital’s holding as of March 31: $1.18 Billion

The billionaire Tiger Cub’s hedge fund cut its Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stake by 220,884 shares in the first quarter, to 1.99 million shares. The restructured stake was worth $1.18 billion at the end of the quarter and constituted 5.9% of Lone Pine’s portfolio. The online retail giant reported net sales of $29.13 billion for the first quarter of the year, up from $22.72 billion recorded a year earlier. North America sales jumped by 27% year-over-year to nearly $17.00 billion due to sustained efforts to reduce prices, sales in faster growing categories such as electronics, and an increased selection of product offerings. Amazon anticipates net sales of $28.0 billion-to-$30.5 billion for the second quarter, which would represent an increase of 21%-to-32% year-over-year. Shares of Amazon have gained 4% since the beginning of the year. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global was the largest shareholder of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) within our database at the end of March, holding 3.44 million shares.

#2. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)

 – Number of shares owned by Lone Pine Capital as of March 31: 11.41 Million

 – Value of Lone Pine Capital’s holding as of March 31: $1.3o Billion

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) received some love from Lone Pine Capital during the January-to-March period, as the asset manager upped its stake in the social networking giant by 1.63 million shares. The 11.41 million-share stake held at the end of March was valued at $1.30 billion and represented 6.5% of the fund’s portfolio. Fresh statistics reveal that around three million businesses are advertising on Facebook’s platform, an increase from roughly two million recorded in February of 2015. Nonetheless, this number will most likely keep increasing in the months and years ahead, as there is a staggering total of 50 million businesses that maintain Facebook pages as of the end of April. Therefore, Facebook’s main objective at this point in time involves preserving engagement on the social networking platform and getting those 50 million businesses to start advertising or increase their existing advertising spending. Shares of Facebook are 12% in the green year-to-date. John Armitage’s Egerton Capital Limited reported ownership of 5.89 million shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in its most recent 13F filing.

#1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

 – Number of shares owned by Lone Pine Capital as of March 31: 25.77 Million

 – Value of Lone Pine Capital’s holding as of March 31: $1.42 Billion

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the largest holding in Lone Pine Capital’s portfolio at the end of March, amassing 7.1% of the value of the portfolio. Mr. Mandel’s fund cut its stake in Microsoft by 1.49 million shares during the first three months of the year, ending the March quarter with 25.77 million shares valued at $1.42 billion. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced the divestiture of its low-end phone unit to FIH Mobile Limited and HMD Global for $350 million. HMD, a new Finnish company, has also acquired the rights to use Microsoft’s Nokia brand name, allowing it to create a wide array of Nokia-branded smartphones, tablets, and feature phones for the next ten years. Thus, the Nokia brand could make a strong return to the mobile phone and tablet markets in the near future, with reports stating that the devices will Android-based and developed by FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn. Microsoft will continue to develop Windows 10 Mobile and Lumia devices. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owned 18.22 million shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) on March 31.

Disclosure: None