Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Dumped 4 of the Hottest AI Stocks and Nearly Quadrupled His Fund's Stake in Another Trillion-Dollar Company
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By Sean Williams – Feb 20, 2026 at 3:51AM ESTKey PointsQuarterly-filed Form 13Fs alert investors to the stocks being purchased and sold by Wall Street's leading money managers.Duquesne Family Office's billionaire boss completely exited his fund's stakes in AI powerhouses Meta Platforms, Sandisk, Seagate Technology, and Arm Holdings during the fourth quarter.However, a 282,800-share purchase of a scorching-hot "Magnificent Seven" stock signals strong conviction in its cloud-based, AI-driven operations.These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: GOOGLAlphabetMarket Cap$3.7TToday's Changeangle-down(-0.20%) $0.60Current Price$302.73Price as of February 19, 2026 at 3:58 PM ETOne "magnificent" company looks to be the new apple of Druckenmiller's eye in the artificial intelligence (AI) arena.Arguably, no data release carries more weight than the quarterly filing of Form 13Fs with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 13F provides a concise snapshot of the stocks Wall Street's smartest money managers bought and sold in the latest quarter -- and Feb. 17 was the filing deadline for fourth-quarter trading activity.
With Warren Buffett now retired, attention turns to Wall Street's other prominent and highly successful billionaire investors, such as Stanley Druckenmiller at Duquesne Family Office. Duquesne's 13F shows its billionaire boss dumped shares of four scorching-hot artificial intelligence (AI) stocks -- Meta Platforms (META +0.21%), Sandisk (SNDK +3.38%), Seagate Technology (STX 3.62%), and Arm Holdings (ARM 0.28%) -- and nearly quadrupled his stake in another "magnificent" company. Image source: Getty Images.
Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller rings the register on several AI winners Druckenmiller was a busy bee during the fourth quarter, with 16 holdings reduced in size and 31 previous positions exited entirely. This includes: Meta Platforms: 76,100 shares sold Sandisk: 166,235 shares sold Seagate Technology: 85,900 shares sold Arm Holdings: 167,900 shares sold Profit-taking is the likeliest catalyst for this selling. The 62 positions in Duquesne's $4.5 billion investment portfolio at the end of 2025 have been held for an average of roughly 7.5 months. Druckenmiller has shown he's willing to ring the register when given the opportunity. Sandisk and Seagate enjoyed near-parabolic gains of 1,540% and 318%, respectively, over the trailing year. ExpandNASDAQ: SNDKSandiskToday's Change(3.38%) $20.32Current Price$620.72Key Data PointsMarket Cap$92BDay's Range$590.22 - $634.3852wk Range$27.89 - $725.00Volume451KAvg Vol16MGross Margin34.81% But there's also the possibility that Duquesne's billionaire chief sent these stocks packing due to concerns about an AI bubble. Every game-changing technology since the advent and proliferation of the internet has endured an early stage bubble-bursting event. Although AI hardware adoption is robust, businesses aren't particularly close to optimizing AI solutions to maximize sales and profits. In a May 2024 interview with CNBC, Druckenmiller stated, "AI might be a little overhyped now, but underhyped long term." Sandisk and Seagate would, presumably, be hit hard if the AI bubble bursts. Meta, which generates nearly 98% of its sales from ads on its world-leading social media platforms, and Arm Holdings, whose intellectual property royalties and licensing revenue extend well beyond AI chips, would likely sidestep the brunt of a potential bubble-bursting event. Image source: Getty Images. Duquesne's billionaire investor can't get enough of this trillion-dollar stock On the other hand, Stanley Druckenmiller bought 28 new securities and added to 13 existing holdings in the December-ended quarter. No add looms larger than the 282,800 shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL 0.20%)(GOOG 0.13%). Druckenmiller's purchase of the Class A shares (GOOGL) increased his fund's stake by 277%. Like Meta, Alphabet has a rock-solid foundation in advertising to fall back on if the AI bubble bursts. Google is a virtual monopoly in global internet search, accounting for a 90% share of search traffic in January. ExpandNASDAQ: GOOGLAlphabetToday's Change(-0.20%) $-0.60Current Price$302.73Key Data PointsMarket Cap$3.7TDay's Range$300.03 - $305.4552wk Range$140.53 - $349.00Volume1MAvg Vol37MGross Margin59.68%Dividend Yield0.27% But the buzz about Alphabet centers on its incorporation of generative AI and large language model solutions into Google Cloud, the world's No. 3 cloud infrastructure platform by total spend. This high-margin operating segment delivered 48% sales growth in the fourth quarter and should become Alphabet's core cash flow driver in the coming years. Alphabet's reasonably low forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23 has made it the "Magnificent Seven" stock to own in 2026.Read NextFeb 19, 2026 •By Johnny RiceHere's the Quantum Computing Stock Wall Street Loves the Most (Hint: It's Not IonQ or Rigetti)Feb 18, 2026 •By Daniel SparksAmazon vs. Alphabet: Which Is the Better AI Stock to Buy Now?Feb 18, 2026 •By Keithen DruryHere's Why Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft's AI Spending Is a Genius MoveFeb 18, 2026 •By Geoffrey SeilerThe Best Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right NowFeb 17, 2026 •By Will Healy2 Brilliant Growth Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for the Long TermFeb 17, 2026 •By Ben GranThis 1 Underrated Factor Could Drive the Big Winner in the Robotaxi RaceAbout the AuthorSean Williams is a data-driven Motley Fool contributing analyst who's been investing for 27 years and has penned north of 15,000 articles. You'll find him at the intersection of politics and investing tackling macroeconomic topics of interest (Social Security and Donald Trump's economic/tax policies), analyzing which stocks billionaire investors (e.g., Warren Buffett) are buying and selling, and digging into how the world's most-influential businesses and trends -- everything from the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) to the next stock split -- are changing Wall Street. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.TMFUltraLongX@AMCScamStocks MentionedAlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$302.73 (0.20%) $0.60Meta PlatformsNASDAQ: META$644.55 (+0.21%) $+1.33AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$303.56 (0.13%) $0.38Seagate Technology PlcNASDAQ: STX$408.79 (3.62%) $15.35Arm HoldingsNASDAQ: ARM$126.89 (0.28%) $0.35SandiskNASDAQ: SNDK$620.72 (+3.38%) $+20.32*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.