There aren't many better investors, if any at all, than billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller. As a hedge fund manager, Druckenmiller averaged a 30% annual return for three decades and has supposedly never had a year in the red. Today, Druckenmiller manages much of his personal wealth through his family office, the Duquesne Family Office, which had close to $4.5 billion in assets at the end of 2025.
During the fourth quarter of the year, Druckenmiller's fund eliminated its position in Meta Platforms (META 2.55%) and piled into another "Magnificent Seven" stock that has been crushed by the broader market recently.
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Selling what many believe to be a clear beneficiary of AI
Meta has not had the best recent performance, with its stock down about 11% over the past year. Druckenmiller and his team will trade in and out of positions on a fairly short-term basis, so it's not unheard of for Duquesne to buy a stock in one quarter and then sell it a few quarters later.
This also means Druckenmiller isn't always taking a long-term view, so it's possible that the legendary investor got tired of waiting for the stock to bounce back. However, after Meta's recent earnings report earlier this year, which came after Druckenmiller sold the stock, investors began singing Meta's praises again, particularly as CEO Mark Zuckerberg guided for $115 billion to $135 billion in capital expenditures in 2026.
NASDAQ: META
Key Data Points
The good news for Meta is that it's a clear beneficiary of AI, and those benefits are evident in its improving ad business. Meta can leverage AI to create ads that better align with customer interests, thereby increasing engagement. But there are risks, whether from competition from other large social platforms like TikTok that will also leverage AI.
Investors may also be concerned about Zuckerberg's significant spending habits. After all, the company seemed to go all in on the metaverse, which never really panned out. This division, called Reality Labs, has generated tens of billions of dollars in operating losses since 2020.
I think Meta is ultimately in a decent spot, given that investors can clearly see how AI is improving their business. Still, it's important to hold the company accountable and ensure that the tremendous capex is generating strong returns for shareholders.
Buying the dip on this unloved "Magnificent Seven" stock
During the fourth quarter, Druckenmiller's fund increased its Amazon (AMZN 1.52%) position by 69% to roughly $170 million at the end of 2025. The fund also purchased 100,000 call options on the stock in the quarter.
Amazon's stock is down 9% over the past year, compared with the broader S&P 500's (^GSPC 1.52%) nearly 13% return. The stock has struggled for several reasons. President Donald Trump's tariffs have challenged the e-commerce part of the business, which sources many of its products from China and also has many third-party sellers based outside the U.S.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
Investors have also been concerned about Amazon's cloud AI strategy, compared to its peers. The company recently said it plans to spend a whopping $200 billion in capital expenditures this year, much of which will go to building data centers and other infrastructure needed to support the demand the company is seeing for AI compute. The market is no longer as rewarding for companies planning large AI-related capex, as they want to see returns, so Amazon is going to have to prove that this spending makes sense.
That said, Amazon trades at slightly under 29 times trailing earnings, which is cheap compared to its past trading range over the past five years. At some point, Amazon may get more relief on the tariff front. The company is also a leader in robotics and plans to integrate the technology into its warehouses, which is expected to yield significant savings.
While Amazon's success on the AI front is not a given, the company's strong e-commerce and cloud businesses should make it a durable company for many decades to come.
