Which Stocks Are Whales Buying and Selling in Q3/2025?

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Q3/2025 closes with a multifaceted market picture: AI continues to be Wall Street's strongest growth driver, while interest rates – and mixed signals from the FED – make money flow rotate in an unprecedentedly unpredictable way.

Despite the sharp divergence between growth stocks and the rest of the market, hedge funds are still accelerating their buying.

• Assets of the entire hedge fund industry have reached a record $5 trillion, the highest in history.

• In Q3 alone, capital inflows into the funds reached $34 billion, the largest since 2007 – the period right before the global financial crisis.

Amid investors grappling with geopolitical risks, a persistently flat yield curve, and expectations of cooling inflation, the 'big players' choose to fine-tune their portfolios in different directions.

This quarter's 13F reports not only show where the funds are betting big in the AI cycle, but also reveal deep divergence in how they perceive risks – from Big Tech, emerging fintech, to traditional defensive assets.

Read the “What Whales Are Buying” series for Q1 and Q2/2025 at:

In today's article, Viet Hustler will go over with you the stocks most strongly bought – sold in Q3/2025 and how top funds are restructuring their portfolios.

• Top stocks held & bought by funds in Q3/2025

• Google: Strong comeback

• Figure Technology Solutions: Rising star

• Changes in portfolios of major funds

• Notes for individual investors

Part I. Top stocks held & bought by funds in Q3/2025

Top 5 stocks most held by funds as of end of Q3/2025

Hedge fund portfolios continue to revolve around familiar names. Despite market volatility due to interest rates and divergence in the tech group, the “AI backbone” structure of the funds has hardly changed from the previous quarter.

The 10 stocks below account for about half of the total portfolio of the top 20 performing funds:

• AI infrastructure: META, NVDA, TSM, GEV

• Cloud hyperscalers: AMZN, MSFT, GOOG

• E-commerce and global payments: MELI, SE, V

→ Similar to previous quarters, Big Tech and AI still dominate absolutely.
→ These positions appear repeatedly in the portfolios of many funds like Coatue, Lone Pine, Fundsmith, Viking and Light Street — showing confidence in the AI growth cycle is still very long.

Overall, top holdings reflect the funds' long-term confidence in 3 pillars: AI, cloud computing and global commerce.

Top 5 stocks most bought in Q3/2025

If holdings help us see through long-term preferences, then top buys are the most important part: where funds show tactical adjustments in Q3.

The 5 names most strongly bought this time:

• Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL): nearly half of the funds have significantly added.

• Group benefiting from the AI investment wave:TSM, ASML, AVGO, AMZN.

• AI application software: APP, INTU.

• Stocks heavily sold off: UNH – continues with strategic “bottom fishing” moves.

• Fintech: NU, V.

Notable points: Google strong comeback.

Alphabet's appearance in both top holdings and top buys shows funds are revaluing Google's central role in the AI cycle — especially in Search, Cloud, and Gemini.

→ In summary, the Q3/2025 picture has two highlights:

• The AI – cloud framework still holds a dominant position in major funds' portfolios, and Google becomes the name with the strongest capital deployment.

• Meanwhile, capital flows continue to “bet long-term” on AI infrastructure, signaling the new investment cycle may last many more years.

Part II. Google: Strong Comeback

For many consecutive quarters, Google entered 2025 with one of the “toughest stories” in the big tech group.

• Pressure from generative AI on search, slowing Cloud growth, looming legal risks… all caused the stock to be valued significantly lower than competitors

• Market sentiment cautious, investors question if Google is losing its leadership in the AI era.

But Q3/2025 marked an important “reset” step.

1. Legal risks ease

For many months, market feared extreme scenario: Google forced to split Chrome – Search – Ads. By Q3, this scenario nearly eliminated.

• Heavy fines seen as unlikely

• Product split pressure gone

• Valuation multiple (P/E) escapes “suppressed” range for many quarters

→ This is the biggest bottleneck removed for the stock.

2. AI capabilities improve markedly

After initial chaotic Gemini rollout, Google shows spectacular recovery:

• Gemini surges in benchmarks

  

  

• Enterprises begin wider Gemini deployment

• Workspace AI records real monetization signals

• Large-scale TPU-based AI infrastructure becomes competitive advantage

• YouTube ad growth returns

• Cloud stabilizes after first half 2025 slowdown

Key change: Gemini's GenAI access market share up to 14%, from 6% a year ago.

• Significant gain amid saturating generative AI market.

3. Financial foundation improves

Data shows:

• Profits from ads and Cloud continue expanding

• Costs from “other bets” and management expenses remain controlled

• Despite increased AI investment, Alphabet's profit margins remain relatively stable

→ Point investors watch closely: Google invests heavily in AI without sacrificing profits.

4. Why funds buying Google heavily this quarter?

Google appears in nearly half top funds' new buy lists.

Notable names include:

• Night Owl

• Sands Capital

• Altimeter

• Route One

• Coatue

• Light Street

• Whale Rock

• MayTech

Common reasons:

• Legal risks reduced

• AI products stabilizing again

• Market re-evaluating AI infrastructure deployment capabilities

• Stock still valued lower than large tech group

→ This is an attractive “entry point”: a high-margin AI business, but trading at the lowest valuation in the mega-cap group.

5. What the market needs to watch in the coming quarters

• Whether Cloud can maintain its recovery momentum

• Enterprise adoption speed of TPU

• Ability to convert Workspace AI into real revenue

• Quality and safety of subsequent Gemini versions

• Balance between search user experience and monetization capabilities

• Antitrust lawsuits remain a long-term risk but move slowly

→ Q3/2025 marks a pivotal turning point: from being seen as “threatened by AI”, Google turns into an attractively valued option with multiple growth options in the AI era. This is also why Alphabet becomes one of the stocks most heavily bought by funds this quarter.

Part III. Figure Technology Solutions: Rising Star

Figure Technology Solutions ($FIGR) just listed in September but has quickly become one of the most notable deals in the fund investment community.

• Stock rose nearly 30% at times just weeks after IPO, and more importantly: the number of funds reporting positions in 13F for Q3 reached 157

This is one of the rare phenomena: a newly listed fintech company attracting both “veteran sharks” and the Tiger Cubs generation simultaneously.

1. Who is buying FIGR? High-quality investor group

A series of big names opened positions right in the first quarter FIGR appeared:

• Stanley Druckenmiller

• George Soros

• Israel Englander (Millennium Management)

• Chase Coleman (Tiger Global)

• Rob Citrone (Discovery Capital)

In addition, there are large institutions:

• Balyasny

• Apollo Management

• Citadel

→ This is the investor group that usually only participates when the business model is truly differentiated.
→ FIGR entering the buy list of many top-tier funds shows great expectations for mid-term growth.

2. FIGR - A blockchain-based fintech – but very “pragmatic”

Unlike many experimental blockchain companies, Figure chooses to solve a very real problem: restructuring the consumer lending market with transparent and low-cost infrastructure.

Main business segments:

• Disbursement and management of consumer loans

  • home equity (HELOC)

  • home purchase loans

  • personal consumer loans

• Operating Provenance, a blockchain platform that enables banks and financial institutions:

  • issuing loans

  • buying and selling – trading loans

  • raising related capital

→ In other words, FIGR does not sell “cryptocurrency”, but sells technology infrastructure to help capital flows move more transparently.

→ This model makes FIGR a “Fintech + Financial Infrastructure” rather than a traditional blockchain project.

3. Why has FIGR become the new rising star of funds?

There are three factors that create an “attractive case” in the eyes of major funds:

• The US consumer lending market is extremely large

  • HELOC and mortgage alone are markets worth trillions of USD.

    

• Blockchain reduces paperwork processing costs and loan circulation

  • Helps banks, funds, and financial institutions reduce costs and increase processing speed.

• Confidence from high-quality investors

  • If Druckenmiller, Soros, Englander, and Tiger Cubs all buy right in the IPO quarter, it's often a sign that the business has a “real differentiator”.

→ FIGR is one of the few fintech companies using blockchain in a way that “solves real problems”, rather than chasing trends. With the level of interest from institutional investors and a massive consumer lending market behind it, FIGR becomes one of the most prominent names in the Q3/2025 IPO group.

Part IV. Changes in portfolios of major funds

1. Berkshire Hathaway: Closing the Buffett era with a surprising deal

Q3/2025 marks Warren Buffett's final quarter at Berkshire, and the conglomerate's portfolio continues to be refined in its familiar direction: trimming oversized positions while opening a new strategic bet.

• Apple continues to be trimmed by ~15%continuing the streak of quarterly weight reductions.
  → However, AAPL still holds the No. 1 position, accounting for 23% of the portfolio, thanks to the stock rising 23% in the quarter.

• Bank of America also trimmed, but still holds the role of the third-largest holding.

• Google (GOOGL) becomes the largest new position, accounting for 1.6% of the portfolio, equivalent to 4.3 billion USD.
  → Even Buffett – traditionally cautious with technology – joined the wave of buying Google in Q3.

→ Berkshire closes the transition phase by trimming oversized “core stocks” while adding Google as a way to balance the portfolio for the new AI cycle.

2. Bridgewater: Shrinking AI positions, expanding into defense and indices

Bridgewater – the world's largest macro fund – only slightly increased portfolio size (+3%) but restructured strongly internally:

• Reducing overcrowded technology positions

• Strongly increasing defensive positions in All-Weather style.

Main trends in Q3

• Sharp cuts to Big Tech:

  • Nvidia: down 65%

  • Alphabet: down 52%

  • Meta: down 48%

  • Microsoft: down 36%

→ This is not a minor adjustment, but a “exiting the crowd” move in true Dalio style.

• Strongly increasing index positions:

  • iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV): up ~75%, becoming one of the largest positions in the entire fund.

  • SPY held nearly unchanged.

→ Bridgewater chooses to return to the stability of major indices – a typical defensive strategy when the fund assesses market risk as high.

• Increased number of stock holdings from 585 to over 1,000 positions.
  → A well-diversified portfolio in line with “risk parity” thinking: not concentrating risk in any group.

Stocks prioritized for increased positions:

• Semiconductor equipment: Applied Materials (new position), Lam Research (doubled)

• Enterprise software: Adobe, ServiceNow

• Finance – payments: Mastercard

• International commerce: Sea Ltd.

→ Bridgewater does not abandon the AI story; they just choose to “take a detour”, shifting from high-hype stocks (Nvidia) to more stable infrastructure – software – chip equipment groups.

3. Duquesne (Stanley Druckenmiller): Fast – bold – oriented towards new money flows

Unlike Berkshire or Bridgewater, Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne always has a “flexible trading” style, with average stock holding period only ~2 quarters.

• Therefore, the actions in Q3/2025 clearly reflect his short–medium-term view.

Top buys in Q3

• EEM (Emerging Markets) – top buy

• Amazon (AMZN) – strong increase

• Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR) – new bet, similar to Tiger Cubs

• STUB, META – additional buys

→ Three points showing Druckenmiller's thinking:

• betting on emerging markets,

• returning to Big Tech with stable AI foundations,

• and joining the super rookie FIGR.

Strong sells / complete exits

• Microsoft (MSFT) – fully exited

• AppLovin (APP) – sold out

• Goldman Sachs (GS) – 100% withdrawn

→ This is a quite unexpected change, especially with Microsoft – which has been the AI pillar of many funds.

Largest position remains unchanged

• Natera (NTRA) continues to be the top holding for 5 consecutive quarters.

  • Up 64% during that time

  • And up more than 370% since Druckenmiller first bought (Q3/2022)

→ For Duquesne, Natera is a true “big conviction bet”.

4. Tiger Cubs: Fresh wind from tech-leaning funds

Three Tiger Cubs funds – Tiger Global, Light Street and Coatue – continue to play the role of “money flow leaders” in tech hedge funds.

Q3/2025 has a very clear theme: prioritizing new IPOs, software – data, and AI infrastructure, while reducing overheated stocks from the past 18 months.

4.1. Tiger Global (Chase Coleman): Focus on IPOs and software platforms

Tiger Global has had two years of strong recovery (nearly +30% per year), and this quarter they continue the trend of betting on growth-stage tech companies.

• Top new positions:

  • Klarna (KLAR)

  • Netskope (NTSK)

  • Figma (FIG)

  • Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR)
    → All IPOed in Q3 – showing Tiger Global wants to lead in the “new waves”.

• Strongest buys:

  • Netflix (NFLX)

  • MongoDB (MDB)

  • Amazon (AMZN)

  • Coupang and Corpay (CPAY)

• Strong sells:

  • Meta, Eli Lilly, Reddit, Sherwin-Williams, CrowdStrike
    → Trend: withdrawing from “crowded” stocks to return to software and digital commerce.

→ Tiger Global stays true to style – prioritizing growth, accepting volatility, and ready to make big bets on recently IPO'd startups.

4.2. Light Street (Glen Kacher): Performance star of the Tiger Cubs group

Light Street is the fund with the most impressive track record in the past two years, thanks to timely bets on semiconductors – data – SaaS.

• Strong new positions in cloud software group:

  • Google (GOOGL)

  • Datadog (DDOG)

  • Confluent (CFLT)

  • Snowflake (SNOW)

  • MongoDB (MDB)

• These are also the most bought stocks in the quarter.

• Positions cut:

  • Calix, Meta, TSM, Netflix, GDS
    → Light Street actively restructures, shifting from strongly increased positions to data – cloud group with more attractive valuations.

→ Light Street shows consistency: focus on data – enterprise software – AI platforms, and continues to lead industry performance.

4.3. Coatue (Philippe Laffont): More cautious approach but still tech-leaning

Coatue holds the widest portfolio in the Tiger Cubs group (74 positions), but focus remains on technology (nearly 50%) and communications (19%).

In Q3, Coatue made 3 big moves:

• Top new positions:

  • Synopsys (SNPS)

  • Applied Materials (AMAT)

  • Google (GOOG)

  • Snowflake (SNOW)

  • Figma (FIG)

• Top adds:

  • Google (GOOGL / GOOG)

  • Synopsys

  • Applied Materials

  • Snowflake

• Top sells:

  • CrowdStrike, ARM, Amazon, Nvidia, Philip Morris
    → Coatue reduces overheated Big Tech – adds to software, chip design, AI infrastructure.

→ Coatue chooses the “durable – safe – high margin” path: chip design (SNPS), semiconductor equipment (AMAT), cloud data (SNOW) and Google.

5. Appaloosa: David Tepper makes big bets on China and semiconductors

Appaloosa is always seen as a “clear” portfolio and a good reference for individual investors due to long holding periods (average over 8 quarters).

Q3/2025 continues to show Tepper's loyalty to two themes: Chinese market and semiconductors – core technology.

• Top new:

  • AMD

  • FISERV (FI)

  • American Airlines (AAL)

  • Truist (TFC)

  • KeyCorp (KEY)

• Top adds:

  • Whirlpool (WHR)

  • AMD

  • Qualcomm (QCOM)

  • KWEB

  • FISERV

• Top sells:

  • UnitedHealth

  • Intel

  • Alibaba (sold some but still the largest position)

  • Vistra

  • Micron

China weighting still extremely large: Tepper continues to “bet big” on the recovery of the Chinese market:

• 28.47% of portfolio in Chinese stocks

• Main buys: BABA, FXI, KWEB, BIDU, PDD, JD

• Impressive returns on these positions:

  • BABA: +95%

  • FXI: +54%

  • KWEB: +20%

  • BIDU & PDD: ~5%

→ Appaloosa remains the most clearly “pro-China” fund among the super investors group, while adding semiconductor – financial – cyclical consumer stocks in Q3.

6. Scion (Michael Burry): Exits the game – and bets on the AI shock

Q3/2025 is a special quarter for Michael Burry. Instead of just filing 13F as usual, he withdrew all registration with the SEC, meaning Scion no longer accepts outside capital and does not have to report its portfolio mandatorily.

Scion has been “dissolved” in the sense of fund operations:

• No longer a Registered Investment Advisor

• No longer manages money for outside investors

• Only remains as personal investment vehicle of Burry

• Reason: wants to avoid legal pressure and “misunderstandings” from the community after each 13F filing

Q3/2025 portfolio: extremely small – extremely volatile – extremely high-conviction:

Only 8 positions, average holding time 0.38 quarters, indicating the portfolio changes extremely quickly.

Top new positions opened / strongest buys:

• PLTR put

• NVDA put

• Pfizer (PFE) call

• Halliburton (HAL) call

• Molina Healthcare (MOH)

Positions sold:

• UNH call

• Regeneron

• Lululemon

• Meta

• Estee Lauder

→ Highlight: Scion is short Palantir and Nvidia on a large scale (measured by notional asset value in 13F reports).

Reasons Burry is betting against many AI companies:

Burry publicly states:

• AI conglomerates are inflating earnings,

• Accounting fraud by extending asset lives to beautify earnings,

• Forecasts that large companies will understate depreciation by up to $176 billion in 2026–2028.

According to Burry:

• Meta may inflate earnings ~20%

• Oracle ~27%,

• And “many companies are doing the same”

→ Q3/2025 marks the “closure” of Scion as a hedge fund. Small portfolio – volatile – focused on short tech positions shows Burry standing completely opposite to the rest of the AI market.

Part V. Notes for individual investors

Tracking 13F always provides interesting insights: understanding how big funds pivot, finding common bets, or spotting emerging stories like FIGR this quarter.

• However, like every previous quarter, this is the time to reiterate a core point: copying hedge fund trades is a bad strategy.

Even the world's best investors are not right all the time. Shooting 3-pointers is the same: Steph Curry – the best – still misses more than half the time. In the market, there are no “sure bets”, even with famous funds.

More important than the portfolio is your behavior.

As Peter Lynch once said: “Understand what you own and why you own it.”

Conviction is what helps you hold firm through volatile periods. And that conviction only comes from your own research, not borrowed from others. Ian Cassel summed this up perfectly:

“You can borrow ideas, but you cannot borrow conviction.
Do your own homework to know when to sell – and when to continue holding.”

Conclusion

Q3/2025 closes with one of the most polarized pictures since the start of the AI cycle.

On one side, Big Tech and AI infrastructure stocks continue to accelerate, attracting global capital; on the other side, high interest rates and inconsistent signals from the FED leave many other sectors almost “stuck in place”.

But despite that noise, smart money flows stronger than ever into hedge funds.

• Total hedge fund industry assets hit a record $5 trillion, while this quarter alone saw $34 billion in new capital – the highest since 2007.

• This is not just numbers; it reflects confidence that the AI and computing cycle – despite volatility – is still opening superior profit opportunities for those who bet at the right inflection points.

Diving into this quarter's 13F, we clearly see two trends:

(1) The AI – cloud framework continues to serve as the backbone in the portfolios of most large funds;

(2) Funds choose extremely different directions in assessing risks:

• Berkshire buys Google,

• Bridgewater exits Big Tech,

• Tiger Cubs embrace tech IPOs,

• Appaloosa increases bets on China,

• Michael Burry completely turns his back on AI flows with controversial short positions.

That polarization makes Q3/2025 a quarter worth watching. It shows: even top names don't see the market the same way. And that's why individual investors shouldn't copy portfolios, but use 13F as a “reference map” to understand thinking – not trading signals.

In the long-term journey, what determines success is not buying the same stocks as a particular fund, but whether you truly understand why you own it.