David Tepper’s hedge fund Appaloosa Management dumped every single share of SanDisk during the second quarter of 2026, cashing out of a position worth roughly $179 million at the prior quarter’s end, and redeployed the proceeds into a concentrated bet on AI infrastructure and the companies powering it.
SanDisk stock had already ripped 591% year-to-date through mid-August, touching a peak of $2,354.39 on June 22. The 281,250-share position was liquidated entirely, according to Appaloosa’s 13F filing submitted on August 14.
Where the money went
Appaloosa’s reallocation reads like a shopping list for the AI arms race. Amazon became the fund’s largest disclosed holding after Tepper boosted it to 5 million shares, a position valued at over $1.19 billion.
The fund also added to its positions in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Nvidia, two companies that sit at the very center of the AI chip supply chain.
Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising move was a new position in CoreWeave, the AI cloud computing company that has been aggressively building out GPU-dense data centers. Appaloosa initiated a stake of 1.078 million shares.
Tepper didn’t stop at chips and cloud. The fund opened a 225,000-share position in SpaceX, valued at approximately $38.5 million. Some analysts have floated projections that SpaceX could eventually reach a $10 trillion valuation based on its orbital infrastructure ambitions and Starship technology.
The memory chip trim
SanDisk wasn’t the only memory-related exit. Appaloosa also trimmed its Micron Technology stake by 690,000 shares, though it kept a substantial remaining position valued at around $1.125 billion as of June 30.
Appaloosa posted a 32% return in the first half of 2026, driven largely by memory-chip holdings that benefited from surging demand in AI data centers.
Energy plays signal infrastructure conviction
One of the less obvious but arguably most telling moves in the filing was Appaloosa’s expansion into power generation stocks. The fund added positions in Vistra and NRG Energy, two companies that generate and sell electricity to the grid.
What this means for markets
The Amazon position is particularly notable for its size. At over $1.19 billion, it represents a conviction-level bet that Amazon Web Services will remain a dominant player in the AI cloud computing market. The fact that Tepper owns both AWS and CoreWeave suggests he sees the total addressable market as large enough for multiple winners.
The SpaceX position, while relatively small at $38.5 million, signals Tepper’s willingness to look beyond the current AI hype cycle toward longer-duration technology bets.