Stanley Druckenmiller slashed his Nvidia stake by 72% last quarter as the stock nearly doubled

Druckenmiller's biggest trade last quarter was a $664 million bet on small cap stocks via call options on the Russell 2000 index.

• Stanley Druckenmiller slashed his exposure to Nvidia by 72% in the first quarter, according to 13F filings.
• The billionaire investor also initiated a new bullish position in small caps and added to his copper exposure.
• Here are the big investment moves Druckenmiller made last quarter.

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller slashed his exposure to AI darling Nvidia by 72% in the first quarter, according to a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Druckenmiller's Duquense Family Office, which manages about $4.4 billion, sold 441,551 shares of Nvidia in the first quarter.

Druckenmiller was taking profits on what turned out to be a massive winning trade for him. The investor first purchased Nvidia in the fourth quarter of 2022 for an estimated average price of about $184 per share, according to data from Whale Wisdom.

Shares of Nvidia have since surged 391% as of the end of the first quarter. Even with Druckenmiller's big trim of his Nvidia stake, it is still the 7th biggest position in the portfolio as of March 31, with a total value of about $159 million.

Druckenmiller also sold all of his call options in Nvidia in the first quarter, which were purchased in the fourth quarter of 2023 for a total value of about $242 million. Given that shares of Nvidia surged 82% in the first quarter of the year to record highs, that trade was likely another massive winner. 

Other big trades made by Druckenmiller include a $664 million bet on small cap stocks, via call options on the Russell 2000. The position is Duquense's biggest, followed by its position in Microsoft at $468 million and South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, at about $400 million.  

Another notable trade Druckenmiller made was the near tripling of his position in copper miner Freeport McMoRan, now worth about $65 million.

Druckenmiller's bet on copper and small-cap stocks could be a sign that he has a bullish outlook on the broader US economy.

In an interview at the 2023 Sohn Investment Conference, Druckenmiller said he had his eyes on what could be a structural bull market in copper, but that he would strategically wait to scale into copper and build up his position until he saw better chances of a soft landing in the economy.

A bullish bet on small caps is also likely a bet on the US economy and falling interest rates, as small cap stocks tend to outperform during the early stages of an expanding cycle in the US economy, and they are especially poised to benefit from lower rates.