Druckenmiller returns to Chinese stocks with Baidu, boosts Amazon 10x

Duquesne Family Office bought 88,000 Baidu ADRs in Q2, its first Chinese stock purchase in 2.5 years, according to its 13F filing.

"Earnings don't move the overall market; it's the Federal Reserve Board," Stanley Druckenmiller, founder of Duquesne Family Office, has said, describing a framework built on macro direction, odds, and position sizing. The filing shows he added 48 new positions, increased 16, trimmed 11, and fully exited 23, with the top ten holdings accounting for 45.83 percent of the portfolio.

The family office's total portfolio value surged to approximately $5.21 billion from $3.38 billion at the end of Q1. The Baidu position represents just 0.2 percent of the portfolio, but marks a notable shift — Duquesne had held no Chinese stocks since liquidating its Alibaba ADR position in Q4 2023. Baidu's Q1 results showed AI revenue exceeding 50 percent of total revenue for the first time, and the company reports Q2 earnings Tuesday.

The repositioning extended across the AI supply chain. Duquesne built a new Alphabet position of 336,300 shares worth about $120 million after fully exiting in Q1, boosted Amazon holdings more than 10 times to 541,600 shares valued at approximately $129 million, and added 94,400 TSMC ADRs to reach 589,700 shares — making TSMC the portfolio's second-largest holding at about $282 million. The firm also initiated a 72,900-share AMD position and added 490,000 STMicroelectronics shares to reach 3.1 million, while fully exiting Broadcom, Intel, and Micron Technology and cutting Arm Holdings by more than 70 percent.

The moves come as overseas capital reassesses Chinese technology assets. Goldman Sachs data shows Chinese equity funds attracted $50.82 billion in net inflows over the past month, accounting for nearly 60 percent of emerging market fund inflows. Multiple overseas ETFs have also increased exposure to China's semiconductor supply chain, with Roundhill Memory ETF adding A-share memory company CXMT at a 4.46 percent weight and GigaDevice at 1.16 percent.

Alphabet's Q2 revenue grew 24 percent year-over-year to $119.8 billion, with Google Cloud revenue up 82 percent to $24.8 billion and cloud operating profit more than tripling to $8.8 billion. Amazon's AWS revenue rose 37 percent to $42.2 billion, with AWS operating profit reaching $16.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway also increased its Alphabet stake by 83 percent in Q2 to 106 million shares, adding to the bullish read on the search giant.

The Baidu entry signals Druckenmiller's willingness to revisit Chinese technology after years of avoidance, and Tuesday's earnings will test whether Baidu's AI commercialization momentum justifies the position. Investors will watch whether the 0.2 percent stake grows into a larger commitment as China's AI sector continues to develop.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.