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Billionaire David Tepper Sold Nvidia and AMD and Is Piling Into This Specialized AI Chipmaker Instead
Billionaire David Tepper Sold Nvidia and AMD and Is Piling Into This Specialized AI Chipmaker Instead

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Billionaire David Tepper Sold Nvidia and AMD and Is Piling Into This Specialized AI Chipmaker Instead

Key Points Tepper originally bought shares of the two biggest GPU makers in 2023: Nvidia and AMD. As GPUs face growing competition in data centers, he is shifting to a different chipmaker. Broadcom is a more diversified tech giant, giving its business more downside protection. 10 stocks we like better than Broadcom › David Tepper is one of the most successful investment managers on Wall Street. His Appaloosa Management hedge fund has produced gross annualized returns of more than 28% since its inception in 1993. That far outpaces the S&P 500's annualized return over the last 32-plus years of about 10.6%. Tepper is best known for buying distressed debt from companies close to bankruptcy. In fact, Appaloosa was considered a junk bond investment boutique in the 1990s. That contrarian approach often extends to his stock portfolio as well. That said, he's not so set on swimming against the current that he won't buy stocks that are part of an obvious trend like artificial intelligence (AI). AI stocks like Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) have soared in value over the last few years. And Tepper made quite a bit of money on those stocks. But he's been selling them recently in favor of another AI chipmaker instead, possibly taking a bit of a contrarian stance against the two big GPU makers. The essential infrastructure behind the AI revolution Graphics processing units (GPUs) are computer chips or systems that have proven exceptionally adept at crunching all the data that goes into training and running large language models. GPUs are designed to do the types of calculations needed for training AI algorithms, and they can run the processes in parallel, making them far more efficient than a standard CPU, which uses serial processing. Nvidia has long been a leader in GPUs, dating back to the days when they were mostly just used for high-end visuals in gaming (hence why the G stands for "graphics"). As the processing needs of large language models grew exponentially larger, it's seen incredible demand for its leading GPU systems. Even after the strong growth in 2023 and 2024, Nvidia's data center revenue climbed another 73% year over year last quarter. With strong operating leverage, the company has seen its earnings zoom higher, and investors have rewarded it. It's now the most valuable company in the world by a substantial margin, worth over $4 trillion. But AMD is starting to make progress in catching up to Nvidia. The company's MI400 chips coming next year could offer better price performance than Nvidia's current Blackwell line of chips. While Nvidia will be on to its next-generation Vera Rubin platform by then, AMD is offering Nvidia's biggest customers a viable alternative, which could keep its pricing from climbing substantially higher. AMD's stock hasn't performed nearly as well as Nvidia's. After peaking in early 2024, the stock crashed more than 60% to its low in April this year. The first quarter could have been a great opportunity to buy the stock, especially for a contrarian investor looking to take a stance against Nvidia's continued dominance. But Tepper sold his entire stake in AMD during the first quarter, a position first established in the second quarter of 2023. He also continued to cut his Nvidia stake, leaving him with just 3% of the shares he held for Appaloosa in mid-2023. Instead, he's betting on a different chipmaker that poses an increasing threat to the dominance of GPUs in AI data centers. The AI chipmaker Tepper's buying instead While GPUs are extremely flexible and capable of handling all sorts of tasks, many of the biggest companies developing leading-edge AI capabilities are working on custom-made silicon that can handle specific tasks far more efficiently than power-hungry GPUs. These application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, represent a significant threat to GPUs, as hyperscalers like Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google design more advanced chips capable of handling AI training and inference. The capabilities of ASICs are expanding. Meta says its custom chips, which have historically handled machine learning AI, are expanding to training large language models after starting with machine learning algorithms and moving on to AI inference. Google trained its large language model Gemini on its own chip designs, and it just released its first Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) designed for AI inference in April. The company helping Meta and Google design their ASICs is Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). On top of that ASIC business, Broadcom is also the leading networking chipmaker. Networking is an essential piece of AI data centers, as solid network performance ensures all the data gets to the expensive GPUs or ASICs quickly and efficiently. These businesses are spending billions on those chips, so they don't want them sitting idly any longer than necessary. Broadcom also has an enterprise software business, led by virtual machine software VMWare. That is to say, Broadcom offers a more diversified chipmaker compared to Nvidia or even AMD (which also has a strong CPU business). That may be why Tepper took a small stake in the company during the first quarter, as it's a leading competitor in AI chips while offering some downside protection with its VMWare business. Still, Broadcom stock is expensive. It trades for a forward earnings multiple close to 40. That's right in line with Nvidia and slightly less expensive than AMD. The company arguably holds more upside if ASIC designs capture more real estate in data centers over time. Consider the potential efficiency gains of ASICs versus GPUs, which seems likely to happen in the long run. But investors may have to settle for more slow and steady growth compared to Nvidia or AMD. As such, it's worth keeping an eye on Broadcom's stock to see if it falls back down to a more attractive price before following Tepper into the stock. Should you buy stock in Broadcom right now? Before you buy stock in Broadcom, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Broadcom wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,056,790!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Levy has positions in Alphabet and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Billionaire David Tepper Sold Nvidia and AMD and Is Piling Into This Specialized AI Chipmaker Instead was originally published by The Motley Fool

Top 10 Carolina Panthers' camp storylines: Bryce Young's next step, Derrick Brown's health
Top 10 Carolina Panthers' camp storylines: Bryce Young's next step, Derrick Brown's health

New York Times

time10 hours ago

  • Sport
  • New York Times

Top 10 Carolina Panthers' camp storylines: Bryce Young's next step, Derrick Brown's health

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Summer's over, at least for NFL players, coaches and reporters. That means no more hilarious Xavier Legette lake videos. No more waiting on second-round picks to sign or finding ways to pass the time between the end of minicamps in June and the start of training camps in late July. Advertisement The Carolina Panthers' full squad will report Tuesday, and the team's first practice is set for Wednesday. For the second year in a row, the Panthers will hold training camp in Charlotte, but fans will be unable to attend this summer (except for FanFest on Aug. 2) due to ongoing construction projects at the practice facilities adjacent to Bank of America Stadium. It was a relatively stable offseason for owner David Tepper and his organization compared to recent years. But the Panthers begin drills facing a number of questions. Chief among them: Is this the year the Panthers end a seven-season playoff drought that coincided with Tepper's ownership of the team? It will take some time for that one to be answered. Meanwhile, The Athletic ranks the 10 biggest storylines that will drive Panthers-related discussions leading to the Sept. 7 regular-season opener at Jacksonville. Raheem Blackshear has handled kick returns every year since joining the Panthers in 2022, and last year was the primary kick and punt returner. But the additions of fourth-round running back Trevor Etienne and sixth-round receiver Jimmy Horn pushed Blackshear down the depth chart and likely put his chances of making the roster in jeopardy. Etienne, the younger brother of Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, averaged nearly 25 yards in two seasons as Florida's kick returner (before transferring to Georgia). Horn has game-changing speed and return experience from his two years at Colorado. Speculation that the Panthers could add a veteran defensive back has persisted since they hosted free-agent safeties Julian Blackmon and Marcus Williams on visits in March. Justin Simmons, a safety who was with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in Denver, is also available. But I sense that Morgan, Evero and Dave Canales like the makeup of the current secondary group and aren't planning to bring in reinforcements. Obviously, that could change due to injury or a bad showing during joint practices against the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans. But the Panthers made big investments in Jaycee Horn and Tre'von Moehrig and want to see which younger defensive backs step up around them. Advertisement Depending on Tommy Tremble's status, the Panthers could be in the market for a tight end to pair with Ja'Tavion Sanders and rookie Mitchell Evans. Tremble had back surgery in May, two months after re-signing on a two-year, $10.5 million deal. It's tough to envision him being ready for the start of camp. One name to monitor is Noah Fant, who was released Sunday by Seattle. The 27-year-old Fant was with Canales and Panthers TE coach Pat McPherson in Seattle. Sanders' 33 receptions as a rookie last year were the most by a Panthers tight end since Greg Olsen pulled in 52 passes in 2019 during his final season in Charlotte. Sanders was on pace for a 44-catch season before being flipped on his head against Kansas City in Week 12. The fourth-rounder from Texas lost 10 pounds during the offseason and looked faster during OTAs. Since Morgan was promoted and Canales and vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis arrived in January 2024, the Panthers have made a point to lock up their deserving, homegrown players. The list features Derrick Brown, Chuba Hubbard and Horn, and may soon include Ekwonu, the first-round pick from 2022 who has said he wants to be here for the team's turnaround. The two sides failed to get a deal done during the offseason, but Morgan has expressed a desire to keep the Charlotte native in process blue for the long term. Last spring, Canales called Ekwonu 'a dominant run blocker' who needed to clean up his hand placement and footwork to improve as a pass blocker. The Panthers picked up Ekwonu's fifth-year option (worth $17.6 million) for 2026. An extension with an average annual value of $21 million would put the former N.C. State mauler among the top seven, highest-paid players at his position. That seems like a logical starting point. The Panthers will have a new kicker after moving on from Eddy Pineiro, who's third all-time among NFL kickers in field goal accuracy but never had the strongest leg. That doesn't seem to be an issue for undrafted free-agent Ryan Fitzgerald, whose 59-yarder last August against Georgia Tech was the second-longest kick in Florida State history. After struggling during a rainy and windy OTA practice, Fitzgerald was 9-of-10 on skinny goal posts over the Panthers' next two practices with reporters present. He would appear to have the edge over journeyman Matthew Wright, who's bounced around to six teams over five years (including a one-game stint with Carolina at the end of 2023). The Panthers' 32 sacks in 2024 tied for the third fewest in the league. A'Shawn Robinson and Jadeveon Clowney paced the Panthers with 5 1/2 sacks apiece, the lowest total for the team leader since Na'il Diggs and Damione Lewis finished with 3 1/2 in 2007. Those anemic '24 numbers prompted the Panthers to replace outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu with A.C. Carter and move on from Clowney in favor of a youth movement at edge. Advertisement After signing Pat Jones following a seven-sack season in Minnesota, the Panthers took two SEC edge rushers on the second night of the draft — Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen. The Panthers need consistent pressure from Robinson and D.J. Wonnum, who had four sacks in eight games last year. Amare Barno, another returning edge rusher, likely will start camp on the physically unable to perform list following a knee cleanup. It would be hard to be much worse. A big reason for the paltry pass rush was the fact that the Panthers were repeatedly gashed in the run game, leading to few third-and-long situations in which the pass rushers could eat. Morgan tried to attack the problems in free agency. A year after rebuilding the offensive line, the former Panthers linebacker-turned-GM missed out on his biggest target (Milton Williams) but added free-agent pieces to all three levels of the defense. In addition to the edge rushers, the Panthers also took Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom and Florida defensive lineman Cam Jackson on the third day of the draft. But the key to the Evero-coordinated D could be the health of Derrick Brown, whom we'll address momentarily. The Panthers brought back their entire offensive line, which did a nice job protecting Young and opening holes for Hubbard last fall. Rico Dowdle should provide a nice change of pace in the run game. But Canales' offense last year lacked a big-time playmaker in the passing game, which the Panthers hoped they were getting in Legette. In fact, McMillan's arrival should allow Legette to relax and settle in after a rookie season plagued by dropped passes. And McMillan's size, catch radius and familiarity with Young should be a boon for the third-year quarterback, who threw with McMillan during the offseason and lobbied for him with the Panthers' decision-makers. The defense's undoing started early last year when Brown tore his meniscus in Week 1 and was lost for the season. When Shaq Thompson went down with an Achilles injury three weeks later, the Panthers were without two of their best players and leaders on defense. Thompson is gone — the latest ex-Panther to join Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane in Buffalo. And while Brown's rehab has gone well, expect the Panthers to bring him along slowly in training camp so he's ready for the start of the season. That's a sound strategy given Brown's importance to the defense. The 2020 first-round pick from Auburn had a monster season in 2023, finishing with more tackles (103) than any defensive lineman in NFL history and going to his first Pro Bowl. Young looked like a completely different quarterback at the end of last season than the one whose inconsistency and lack of confidence led to his benching after only two games. This version more closely resembled 'Bama Bryce' and was encouraging enough that the Panthers decided to use a top-10 pick on a receiver rather than give Evero some help on defense. Young turned in his best three-game stretch to close 2024, with 10 touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing) and no turnovers against Arizona, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. His five-TD game in the overtime win against the Falcons prompted Canales to pronounce the Panthers had 'our guy.' Young needs to play that way from the jump this year if the Panthers hope to end the league's second-longest playoff drought. (Top photo of Young: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Game On: MLS All-Star Game coming to Queen City
Game On: MLS All-Star Game coming to Queen City

Yahoo

time5 days ago

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

Game On: MLS All-Star Game coming to Queen City

The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is coming to the Queen City next year. Charlotte city leaders confirmed the news on Wednesday morning at the Bank of America Stadium. READ MORE: Charlotte to host 2026 MLS All-Star Game, source says Channel 9's DaShawn Brown asked the commissioner, 'Why Charlotte? Why Now?' The first reason was the fans. From the very first match for Charlotte FC, more than 74,000 fans packed Bank of America Stadium. On Wednesday, club owner David Tepper said they're estimating more than 3 million soccer fans would've come through the stadium this year, alone. Thats the kind of momentum they're hoping to build on for the all-star game next year. The MLS commissioner, Tepper, and leaders across the city and state were at Wednesday's announcement. The commissioner said they're currently targeting late July 2026, which would be after the World Cup. 'Charlotte has turned into a big-time soccer city, and we are pleased to bring the 2026 MLS All-Star Game to the Queen City,' said MLS Commissioner Don Garber in a news release. 'The city and region keep showing up for the sport, from packed Charlotte FC crowds to global events like the FIFA Club World Cup and Copa América the past two summers. We're excited to bring another marquee soccer event to Charlotte.' The state Secretary of Commerce announced they're supporting this effort with a grant worth $2 million, which comes from sports-betting revenue in North Carolina. There will also be festivities during the week of the MLS All-Star Game. The date and opponent for the 2026 MLS All-Star Game will be announced at a later time. VIDEO: Charlotte FC value hits $625M — almost double what David Tepper paid for MLS team

Charlotte to host MLS All-Star game in 2026 for first time, AP source says
Charlotte to host MLS All-Star game in 2026 for first time, AP source says

San Francisco Chronicle​

time6 days ago

  • Sport
  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Charlotte to host MLS All-Star game in 2026 for first time, AP source says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Charlotte will host the Major League Soccer All-Star game for the first time in 2026, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made official. MLS commissioner Don Garber is expected to confirm the venue on Wednesday at a news conference in Charlotte. Charlotte FC, owned by Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, was named the league's 28th franchise in 2019 and began play in the league in 2022. The game will be played at Bank of America Stadium, which is also home to the Panthers. This year's All-Star game is set for Austin, Texas, between the MLS All-Stars and the Liga MX All-Stars. The opponents for the 2026 All-Star game will be announced at a later date. ___

Charlotte to host MLS All-Star game in 2026 for first time, AP source says
Charlotte to host MLS All-Star game in 2026 for first time, AP source says

Hamilton Spectator

time6 days ago

  • Sport
  • Hamilton Spectator

Charlotte to host MLS All-Star game in 2026 for first time, AP source says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Charlotte will host the Major League Soccer All-Star game for the first time in 2026, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made official. MLS commissioner Don Garber is expected to confirm the venue on Wednesday at a news conference in Charlotte. Charlotte FC, owned by Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, was named the league's 28th franchise in 2019 and began play in the league in 2022. The game will be played at Bank of America Stadium, which is also home to the Panthers. Charlotte has recently hosted Copa America and Club World Cup games. This year's All-Star game is set for Austin, Texas, between the MLS All-Stars and the Liga MX All-Stars. The opponents for the 2026 All-Star game will be announced at a later date. ___ AP soccer:

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