SMART MONEY REPORT โ Q1 2026 13F Analysis
Crossed with Q1 Earnings Results & Price Performance | May 16, 2026
METHODOLOGY
Each major cross-fund theme is scored on three axes:
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Conviction โ number of funds moving in the same direction
-
Earnings Validation โ did Q1 results support the buy/sell thesis?
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Signal Quality โ BEAT = smart money was right / MISS = smart money exited correctly or bought despite weakness
TIER 1 โ HIGHEST CONVICTION TRADES (Multi-fund consensus + earnings validated)
๐ข GOOGLE (GOOG/GOOGL) โ STRONG BUY SIGNAL
Q1 Earnings (Apr 29): EPS $5.11 vs $2.63 est โ MASSIVE BEAT +$2.48 | Rev $109.9B vs $107.0B | +21.8% YoY
Smart Money:
- Buffett/Berkshire: MASSIVE add โ GOOGL 3x'd from 17.85M โ 54.25M shares; new GOOG position (3.59M)
- Third Point (Loeb): new GOOGL position (175K)
- Himalaya: maintained GOOGL (2.54M) + GOOG (2.45M)
- Lone Pine: new GOOGL (188K)
- Altimeter: exited GOOGL โ contrarian
Verdict: One of the most powerful signals on the sheet. Buffett tripling his Google stake is extraordinary. The Q1 earnings validated the move decisively โ the $2.48 EPS beat is one of the largest surprise figures in Mega-cap history. Funds that bought GOOG/GOOGL ahead of the quarter were right. Altimeter's exit looks poorly timed in hindsight.
๐ข META โ STRONG BUY SIGNAL
Q1 Earnings (Apr 29): EPS $10.44 vs $6.67 est โ BEAT +$3.77 | Rev $56.3B vs $55.6B | +33.1% YoY
Smart Money:
- Tiger Global: increased 3.1M โ 2.8M (note: slight add)
- Third Point (Loeb): new META position (90K)
- Altimeter: increased 1.95M from 1.85M
- ValueAct: decreased 916K from 1.05M (trimming)
- Druckenmiller: no position (exited earlier)
Verdict: META's $3.77 EPS beat is exceptional and validates the bulls. The broadly distributed ownership among hedge funds combined with a monster quarter makes this an extremely high-quality signal. ValueAct trimming is likely rebalancing, not a thesis change.
๐ข NVIDIA (NVDA) โ BUY SIGNAL (with nuance)
Most Recent Earnings (Feb 25): EPS $1.62 vs $1.54 est โ BEAT +$0.08 | Rev $68.1B vs $66.1B | +73.2% YoY (Q4 FY26 โ next report upcoming)
Smart Money:
- Altimeter: increased 9.34M from 8.1M
- Tiger Global: increased 12.0M from 11.0M
- Soros: increased 1.07M from 666K
- Third Point (Loeb): dramatically cut from 2.95M โ 190K
- Druckenmiller: no NVDA position initiated in Q1
Verdict: The split between Altimeter/Tiger (adding aggressively) and Third Point (nearly exiting) is notable. Given NVDA beat its last Q and continues its AI infrastructure supercycle, the buyers appear more aligned with fundamentals. Third Point's exit may reflect portfolio concentration concerns rather than a bearish thesis. Today's price action (-4.4%) tied to geopolitical news, not fundamentals.
๐ข AMZN โ BUY SIGNAL
Q1 Earnings (Apr 29): EPS $2.78 vs $1.63 est โ MASSIVE BEAT +$1.15 | Rev $181.5B vs $177.3B | +16.6% YoY
Smart Money:
- Ackman/Pershing Square: increased 11.45M from 9.61M
- Tiger Global: maintained 10M shares
- Druckenmiller: no position (exited earlier)
- Lone Pine: exited 2.41M (contrarian)
- ValueAct: decreased 2.88M from 3.39M
Verdict: A $1.15 EPS beat on $181B revenue is enormous. Ackman and Tiger holding/buying AMZN ahead of an outsized beat is a validated thesis. Lone Pine's exit looks premature given the quarter.
๐ข AVGO (Broadcom) โ BUY SIGNAL (AI custom silicon theme)
Most Recent Earnings (Mar 4): EPS $2.05 vs $2.03 โ BEAT +$0.02 | Rev $19.3B vs $19.3B | +29.5% YoY (slight beat โ next Q1 coming)
Smart Money:
- Tiger Global: increased 3.6M from 2.9M
- Third Point: new position (50K)
- Druckenmiller: new position (196K)
- Discovery Capital: new position (83K)
- Lone Pine: exited 1.73M (contrarian)
- Altimeter: increased marginally
Verdict: Broad consensus among top funds to add AVGO. The AI custom silicon thesis remains intact. Lone Pine's exit stands out as the lone dissenter among the group.
๐ข TSM (Taiwan Semiconductor) โ BUY SIGNAL
Q1 Earnings (Apr 16): EPS $3.49 vs $3.30 โ BEAT +$0.19 | Rev $35.9B vs $35.4B | +40.6% YoY
Smart Money:
- Tiger Global: increased 5.6M from 3.7M
- Altimeter: increased 1.37M from 1.22M
- Druckenmiller: maintained ~495K (reduced slightly)
- Third Point: reduced 275K from 425K
- Lone Pine: reduced 1.39M from 3.05M
Verdict: TSM delivered a superb quarter โ 40.6% YoY growth is exceptional. Tiger and Altimeter bought ahead of the beat. Lone Pine's significant reduction looks like a mistake in retrospect given the quarter's quality.
TIER 2 โ HIGH CONVICTION, MIXED EARNINGS SIGNALS
๐ก MSFT โ DIVERGENCE SIGNAL (Smart money split)
Q1 Earnings (Apr 29 โ MSFT's Q3 FY26): EPS $4.27 vs $4.05 โ BEAT +$0.22 | Rev $82.9B vs $81.4B | +18.3% YoY
Smart Money:
- Gates Foundation: EXITED 7.69M shares
- Lone Pine: exited 1.23M shares
- Third Point: exited 925K shares
- Tiger Global: cut 2.5M from 5.5M
- Altimeter: reduced 1.18M from 1.28M
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Ackman/Pershing Square: NEW 5.65M share position โ contrarian buy
Verdict: This is the most fascinating divergence of the filing season. MSFT beat earnings, yet some of the best funds were selling heavily. Ackman's buy-while-others-flee is a contrarian signal. His track record of making bold, concentrated bets makes this worth watching. The CNBC report on Ackman's MSFT position drove the stock +3% today. The broader fund selling may reflect rotation into more direct AI plays (NVDA, AVGO, TSM) rather than a bearish MSFT thesis per se.
๐ก UBER โ BUY SIGNAL (slight miss, structural story intact)
Q1 Earnings (May 6): EPS $0.72 vs $0.69 โ BEAT +$0.03 | Rev $13.2B vs $13.3B โ slight rev miss | +14.5% YoY
Smart Money:
- Altimeter: increased substantially โ 7.97M from 5.59M (+42%)
- Ackman: decreased slightly (minor trim)
Verdict: Altimeter's aggressive add ahead of Q1 paid off on EPS but revenue missed slightly. The +42% share increase suggests very high conviction. At +14.5% YoY growth, the structural ride-share / delivery thesis is intact.
๐ก APP (AppLovin) โ STRONG BUY SIGNAL
Q1 Earnings (May 6): EPS $3.56 vs $3.44 โ BEAT +$0.12 | Rev $1.84B vs $1.77B | +58.9% YoY
Smart Money:
- Lone Pine: increased 1.46M from 0.78M (+87%)
- Tiger Global: reduced 1M from 1.3M
- Discovery Capital: increased marginally
Verdict: 58.9% revenue growth and an EPS beat make this one of the cleanest "right call" signals. Lone Pine's near-doubling of APP ahead of the quarter is a validated high-conviction trade.
๐ก INTC (Intel) โ SPECULATIVE BUY (turnaround bet)
Q1 Earnings (Apr 23): EPS $0.29 vs $0.02 โ MASSIVE BEAT +$0.27 | Rev $13.6B vs $12.4B | +7.4% YoY
Smart Money:
- Tiger Global: new position 1.6M shares
- Druckenmiller: new position 411K shares
Verdict: INTC beat by a massive margin on both EPS (+$0.27) and revenue (+$1.2B vs consensus). Two elite macro/growth funds initiating simultaneously, combined with an outsized beat, makes this a credible turnaround signal. Intel's AI chip ambitions and foundry services are the likely thesis.
๐ก DAL (Delta Air Lines) โ BUY SIGNAL (Buffett conviction)
Q1 Earnings (Apr 8): EPS $0.64 vs $0.58 โ BEAT +$0.06 | Rev $14.2B vs $14.0B | +9.4% YoY
Smart Money:
- Buffett/Berkshire: NEW massive position โ 39.81M shares (Buffett famously called airline investing "a death trap" years ago โ this is a significant reversal)
- Druckenmiller: exited 651K shares (sold before Buffett bought)
Verdict: Buffett initiating 39.81M shares of DAL is one of the most headline-worthy moves of the filing season. Q1 beat on both EPS and revenue. The Druckenmiller-Buffett divergence on DAL is striking โ Druckenmiller exiting while Buffett enters is a classic "passing the baton" in timing.
TIER 3 โ CONTRARIAN / BEARISH THESIS TRADES
๐ด CPNG (Coupang) โ SELL/EXIT SIGNAL
Q1 Earnings (May 5): EPS -$0.15 vs -$0.09 โ MISS -$0.06 | Rev $8.5B vs $8.5B (in-line) | +7.5% YoY (decelerating)
Smart Money:
- Altimeter: exited 15.68M shares (entire position)
- Lone Pine: exited 2.41M shares
- Druckenmiller: cut from 6.8M โ 2.7M
Verdict: A rare case of near-unanimous smart money exit validated by a subsequent earnings miss. Three elite funds were right to exit โ CPNG missed on EPS and growth is decelerating materially (from 10.9% to 7.5% YoY). Tiger Global's aggressive ADD to 34.6M from 26.3M is the massive contrarian bet. This is the single biggest fund-vs-fund divergence on the sheet.
๐ด TOST (Toast) โ CAUTION SIGNAL (Overvalued vs. results)
Q1 Earnings (May 7): EPS $0.20 vs $0.27 โ MISS -$0.07 | Rev $1.63B vs $1.63B (in-line) | +21.9% YoY
Smart Money:
- ValueAct: increased dramatically โ 12.9M from 8.02M (+61%)
Verdict: ValueAct is taking a very concentrated, activist-style position. But Q1 missed on EPS, which may create near-term headwind. The +22% revenue growth is solid, suggesting ValueAct is playing a longer-term operational improvement thesis. Remains to be watched.
๐ด RIG (Transocean) โ SPECULATIVE / HIGH RISK
Q1 Earnings (May 4): EPS -$0.03 vs $0.08 โ MISS -$0.11 | Rev $1.08B vs $1.02B (rev beat) | +19.3% YoY
Smart Money:
- Elliott Management: new position โ 15.63M shares
Verdict: Elliott bought RIG while it missed EPS badly. However, revenue beat and +19.3% YoY growth shows operational momentum. Elliott often takes positions in distressed/operationally improving companies ahead of restructuring catalysts. The offshore drilling cycle could be the thesis โ especially as oil just broke $105/bbl today. High risk, high reward.
๐ด TRIP (TripAdvisor) โ BEARISH VALIDATION
Q1 Earnings (May 7): EPS -$0.11 vs -$0.07 โ MISS -$0.04 | Rev $382.4M vs $384.7M | -4.0% YoY (declining business)
Smart Money:
- Starboard: increased TRIP 10.8M from 9.6M
- Greenlight (Einhorn): new position 1.56M
- Soros: exited TRIP 520K
Verdict: TRIP missed and is in revenue decline. Starboard and Einhorn are activist plays โ they likely believe the company can be restructured or sold. Soros correctly exited before the miss. This is a pure "sum of the parts" activist bet, not a growth story.
๐ด WULF (TeraWulf) โ HIGH RISK SPECULATIVE
Q1 Earnings (May 8): EPS -$1.01 vs -$0.20 โ MASSIVE MISS -$0.81 | Rev $34M (in-line) | -1.1% YoY
Smart Money:
- Lone Pine: new massive position โ 19.92M shares
- Soros Capital: maintained 713K
Verdict: One of the riskiest calls on the sheet. Lone Pine made WULF their largest new position despite the company missing EPS by $0.81 and showing revenue decline. This is a pure crypto infrastructure / AI data center power bet โ the thesis is not about current earnings but about future hashrate capacity and power assets. Needs monitoring.
๐ด LUV (Southwest Airlines) โ EXIT VALIDATED
Q1 Earnings (Apr 22): EPS $0.45 vs $0.47 โ MISS -$0.02 | Rev $7.25B vs $7.27B | +12.8% YoY
Smart Money:
- Elliott Management: massively cut from 51.13M โ 30.35M shares (-41%)
Verdict: Elliott's dramatic reduction of LUV (by 20M+ shares!) was largely validated โ LUV missed Q1 EPS. Elliott had been an activist here trying to drive management changes. The significant trim suggests reduced conviction in the activist campaign's progress.
TIER 4 โ NOTABLE INDIVIDUAL CALLS
| NCLH |
Beat +$0.09 ($0.23 vs $0.14) |
Elliott: new 13.19M |
โ
Validated โ bought before beat |
| HPE |
Beat +$0.06 ($0.65 vs $0.59) |
Elliott: added 18.63Mโ27.42M |
โ
Validated |
| FISV |
Beat +$0.22 ($1.79 vs $1.57) |
Jana: doubled 2.25Mโ4.44M |
โ
Validated |
| KMX |
Beat +$0.14 ($0.34 vs $0.20) |
Starboard: new 6.2M |
โ
Validated |
| SNAP |
Beat +$0.02, rev in-line |
Discovery: exited 1M |
โ Early exit โ SNAP beat |
| PTON |
Miss -$0.02, rev in-line |
Greenlight: added 10.11M from 0.25M (+40x) |
โ ๏ธ Missed, but thesis is turnaround |
| SNOW |
Beat +$0.05 (Feb 25, FY Q4) |
Altimeter: reduced; Tiger: maintained |
Mixed โ beat but growth decelerating |
| ARM |
Beat +$0.02 |
Altimeter: new 1.72M position |
โ
Small beat, structural AI story |
| APP |
Beat +$0.12, +58.9% rev growth |
Lone Pine: near-doubled |
โ
Strong validation |
| HLT |
Beat +$0.03 |
Ackman: exited; Lone Pine: small add |
โ Ackman exited a beater โ rotated to MSFT |