After leaving banking behemoth Goldman Sachs and memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology late last year, hedge fund behemoth Bridgewater Associates made a new wager on EV manufacturer Tesla Inc.
According to Bridgewater’s most recent 13-F filing, the company increased its holdings in Tesla (TSLA) by $62 million, or 0.28%, during the fourth quarter. Due to Elon Musk’s tight relationship with President Donald Trump, Tesla shares (TSLA) witnessed a significant post-election rise. The automaker ended 2024 up 62%, but 2025 has been a more difficult year.
In other news, Ray Dalio’s hedge fund increased its holdings in Moderna (MRNA), a vaccine manufacturer, by acquiring 605,782 shares, or 0.12% of the company. It nearly entirely cut stakes in Applied Materials (AMAT) and sacked Goldman Sachs (GS) and Micron (MU). WhaleWisdom, which monitors regulatory filings, reports that exposure to a number of consumer staple stocks, including Tyson Foods (TSN) and CVS Health (CVS), was also reduced.
Regarding Tesla, it’s impossible to predict when the hedge fund would have intervened to purchase shares, which surged in value following the November U.S. election. However, it would have driven Tesla higher late last year if it had intervened before then.
Within 45 days following the conclusion of a quarter, large investors are required to reveal long positions in 13-F filings. Although the material is already outdated by the time the market gets it, some investors keep a close eye on the filings and use the reports to identify larger investment trends.
But with shares down about 12%, Tesla is a poor performer among the big U.S. tech companies, and some doubts have set in for 2025. After a year, the stock had still increased by 88%.
Analysts have cited a number of causes for this, including weak quarterly performance in recent years and declining worldwide sales as a result of fiercer competition from Chinese rivals like BYD. Investors are also concerned that Musk may become sidetracked by his efforts to assist the government cut waste through his Department of Government Efficiency and his attempt to take over Open AI with a group of investors.
In a note to clients earlier this week, a group of Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives stated, “The worry of the Street is that Musk dedicating so much time (even more than we expected) to DOGE takes away from his time at Tesla in such a crucial moment and year for the company.”
“Musk has always been able to balance his countless initiatives better than any other CEO we have seen and the innovation and tech machine at Tesla is actually accelerating into an autonomous and robotics future despite growing skepticism around Musk’s DOGE balancing act,” Ives, who rates Tesla as outperform.
